Bangladesh
Bangladesh Jute Industry PM Hasina appreciates contribution of jute industry in attaining financial freedom of Bengalis
Dhaka, March 6, 2022: Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has said that jute, once the main cash crop, is still the second largest foreign exchange earning sector in the country. Not only that, the role of jute as a tool for economic liberation of Bengalis is a recognized history.
The Prime Minister said this in a message on the occasion of National Jute Day on Saturday. He remarked that this year's theme 'Golden Country of Golden Fiber - Environmentally Friendly Bangladesh' has become relevant and timely.
Sheikh Hasina said, "Jute has a strong connection with the people of this country and our great freedom." Ever since the partition of the country, the then Pakistani colonial rule deprived the country of a fair account of the valuable foreign exchange earned from the export of jute and jute products.
She said that Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman demanded full control of the provinces over the foreign exchange in the 5th phase of the 6-point program of 1976 against this injustice, injustice and deprivation. He planned to develop jute as a national resource. For this reason, after the independence of the country, on 26 March 1972, all the jute mills were nationalized under the Bangladesh Industrial Enterprise (Nationalization) Order 1972.
The Prime Minister said Bangabandhu established Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation (BJMC) in the same year. He initiated the Five Year Plan (1983-8) for the development of jute industry. In 1964, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib established the Jute Research Institute (BJRE). The Ministry of Jute was established as a result of his constructive initiatives in the jute sector. After the assassination of the father of the nation in his own family in 1975, a terrible disaster befell the jute sector. The jute industry was destroyed in the name of leaving the nominal mullahs to private owners for the reason of losses.
Sheikh Hasina said following in the footsteps of the Father of the Nation, the continuous patronage of the Awami League government has been able to revive and enrich the lost tradition of jute. There is growing interest in using natural fibers as an alternative as there is widespread public awareness about the harmful effects of plastics and polythene on the global environment. As a result, the versatile use of environmentally friendly golden fiber jute has increased.
The Prime Minister said that the 'Compulsory Use of Jute Wrapping in Products Act-2010' and related rules have already created a positive trend in protecting the environment and public interest of the country.
