Staff Correspondent

The State Minister for Textiles and Jute, Md. Shariful Alam, has announced that under a pilot project, eco-friendly jute school bags will be distributed free of cost to students of one selected primary school in each upazila across the country. If this initiative proves successful, the government plans to expand the program to include all primary school students nationwide.

The initiative to distribute these bags has been taken under the directives of Honorable Prime Minister Tarique Rahman.

The State Minister made these remarks while speaking to journalists on Monday afternoon after an on-site inspection of the bag production activities at Jute Fiber BD in Jainabari, Savar.

The State Minister detailed that one primary school has been selected from each of the country's 495 upazilas. Estimating an average of 200 students per school, a total of 99,000 students will receive these jute school bags during the pilot phase. Fifty-four small-scale entrepreneurs have been selected for the manufacturing process, and the bags will be procured through JDPC PLC.

Responding to a query from journalists regarding initiatives to boost the export of the jute industry, the State Minister noted that the country currently relies on importing required jute seeds.

The State Minister also highlighted environmental challenges, observing that the depletion and filling up of many rivers, canals, and water bodies have caused a scarcity of water required for retting (rotting) jute.

The inspection visit was attended by the Secretary of the Ministry of Textiles and Jute, Sharaf Uddin Ahmed Chowdhury, along with other senior officials of the ministry.