Five years into the illegal sell-off of Chittagong-based state-owned Modern Karilin Silk Mills to Bangladesh Steel Re-Rolling Mills (BSRM), the government is yet to take any visible steps to reclaim the factory.
Flouting the conditions of contracts between the government and the workers and employees of Karilin Silk Mills, one of its workers’ leaders sold a large piece of the mill’s land illegally to BSRM-- one of the leading steelmakers in Bangladesh-- through forgery in November 2010 at Tk 17.34 crore.
But industry insiders say the price of the land would be over Tk 100 crore.
As per a gazette notification of the Ministry of Textiles and Jute and condition of the handover-deed between the government and the workers and employees, there is no provision to sell or buy the land of Karilin Silk Mills, sprawling on 2.69 acres of land alongside the Dhaka-Chittagong highway in Faujdarhat Industrial Area.
Upon visiting the site last week, this correspondent found the entire area has been taken over by BSRM. No one is permitted to enter the area except the BSRM employees.
However, when approached, Md Emaz Uddin Pramanik, minister for Textile and Jute, said, “There is no scope to sell state-owned Karilin Silk Mills to BSRM. As conditions have been breached, the mills will be reclaimed.”
He also said that an order was pending with the cabinet, which will facilitate the process to reclaim the land.

“An order from the cabinet is pending to re-acquire the factory. Today or tomorrow, the factory will be re-acquired,” the minister asserted.
When asked, Brigadier General Bayezid Sarwar, chairman of Bangladesh Textile Mills Corporation (BTMC), said, “It’s a complicated matter. We’ve have informed the Ministry of Textile and Jute to reclaim the land. The ministry is taking necessary steps.”
Karilin Silk Mills was handed over free-of-cost by the government to a board, comprising of permanent employees and workers of the mill, on June 13, 2010 in a bid to save jobs and make it a profitable enterprise as it had been a loss-making venture till then. However, instead of operating the mill efficiently, it was illegally sold to BSRM.
Section 11 of the gazette notification issued by the Ministry of Textiles and Jute--published in March 2002 concerning the sale of nine state-owned silk mills-- says, “The Board of Directors comprises of the permanent workers and employees. They cannot hand over ownership of the mill to any individual or institution or third party under any circumstance.”
The section also says that moveable and immoveable assets of the mill cannot be sold to any third party. If workers and employees breach any condition of the agreement, the government can take over the ownership of the factory any time.
Section 10 says that no other commercial activity can continue in the mill if the Board of Directors violates rules and conditions of the mill handover agreement, and that the government can cancel the agreement signed with the workers and employees.
An investigation report submitted by a committee led by Md Abdur Razzak, director of Bangladesh Textile Mills Corporation (BTMC), on April 12, 2015 suggested, “As per handover deed section 4(10), and 11, it would be safe if the mill is re-acquired.”
When asked why the mill is yet to be re-acquired, State Minister for Textiles and Jute Mirza Azam said, “There is a case pending with the high court to cancel the sale deed. We are waiting for the court order.”
However, the state minister said the government must take back the mill.
When contacted, BSRM Executive Director Tapan Sengupta said, “We bought the land with proper registration. We bought a piece of empty land not the factory.”
When he was reminded of a section of the ministry gazette notification barring the sale of moveable and immoveable assets of the mills, Sengupta said he was not aware of the gazette.

Related News:

State-owned Karilin Silk Mills property illegally sold to BSRM (24-01-2016)