Commerce Adviser Sheikh Bashir Uddin has expressed hope that more people will participate in preserving rawhide ahead of next year’s Eid-ul-Azha, citing strong market prices achieved this year by those who preserved rawhides.

Speaking at the third meeting of the Committee for Proper Management of Qurbani-Related Matters, held on Wednesday, August6, at the Ministry of Commerce, Adviser Sheikh Bashir Uddin said that individuals and institutions which preserved animal hides this year received favourable prices later on, creating a noticeable difference in earnings compared to those who did not.

“If the government continues its support for leather preservation next year, as it did this year, we expect significantly greater public participation,” he said.

The meeting was chaired by the Commerce Adviser and attended by Fisheries and Livestock Adviser Farida Akhtar, Industries Adviser Adilur Rahman Khan, Commerce Secretary Mahbubur Rahman, Industries Secretary Md Obaidur Rahman, and Abu Sufian, Director General of the Department of Livestock, along with other senior officials.

It was reported during the meeting that a substantial volume of raw leather entered the domestic market following this year’s Eid-ul-Azha.

A total of 91,36,734 animals were sacrificed nationwide, from which 60,45,220 hides were preserved through madrasas, orphanages, lillah boarding houses, and local tanners.

Of these, 17,61,051 hides were collected by madrasas, orphanages, and lillah boardings. The Chittagong division led preservation efforts with 15,48,000 hides, followed by Rajshahi with 13,90,000 and Dhaka with 14,09,000.

However, the committee also discussed several challenges faced during this year’s Qurbani operations, including:

- Poor management of sacrificial animal markets

- Proliferation of unauthorised markets and low recovery rates of sold animals

- Inability to ensure fair pricing of hides at the level of donors and small traders

- Lack of designated spaces or infrastructure for area-based animal sacrifices

- Limited awareness among stakeholders about proper hide preservation techniques

- Inadequate management of sacrificial waste

- Capacity and compliance shortcomings in existing tanneries

- Absence of a formal policy on the collection and storage of sacrificial animal hides

- No permanent infrastructure for storing raw hides in Dhaka, Chittagong, and other key districts

To address these issues ahead of next year’s Eid, the committee made the following recommendations:

a) The Local Government Division should develop a comprehensive policy for managing sacrificial animal markets.

b) A Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) should be established for sacrificial waste management, with directives issued to all city corporations, municipalities, and local government bodies to implement it.

c) Institutional capacity must be strengthened in the collection, storage, transportation, and overall management of animal hides.

d) The Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock should take necessary steps to control lumpy skin disease and other cattle diseases.

e) A district-level database of permanent and seasonal leather traders and slaughterers (butchers) should be created, with training programmes organised for their benefit.

f) Common Effluent Treatment Plants (CETPs) and Effluent Treatment Plants (ETPs) should be upgraded to handle the increased volume of leather waste during Qurbani.

g) A dedicated storage facility for raw hides should be established near Dhaka, with appropriate infrastructure developed to meet the needs of preservers and traders.