The Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) will distribute winter clothes among the destitute across the country this year.
The apex trade body made the decision during the second meeting of its Standing Committee on Relief and Rehabilitation at FBCCI on Wednesday morning.
The warm clothes will be distributed across the country through district chambers and associations.
Participants at the meeting also recommended giving priority to northern districts during the distribution.
As part of its CSR (corporate social responsibility) initiatives, the FBCCI conducts various programmes in addition to providing leadership to private sector businesses.
FBCCI Senior Vice President Mostofa Azad Chowdhury Babu presided over the standing committee meeting.
He said several associations will be involved in the distribution process alongside the district chambers.
He called upon the FBCCI directors and the associations related to the apparel sector to come forward to help reach out more people in need of warm clothes in this winter.
FBCCI Vice President Md Amin Helaly said the federation may not be able to distribute winter clothes to all the needy people of the country as the organisation does not have that capability.
Businesspeople will be encouraged to distribute winter clothes through district chambers and associations, he added.
Director in-charge of the committee Mohammed Bazlur Rahman said apart from distributing winter clothes among the cold-hit people in the country, initiatives will also be taken to provide a small amount of cash, sewing machines and rickshaws to the poor.
Chairman of the committee Md Abul Khair Morselin thanked the FBCCI board of directors for arranging the distribution of winter clothes across the country every year.
Participants in the open discussion also called for assistance from the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief in the distribution of winter clothes.
FBCCI directors MGR Nasir Majumder, Shafiqul Islam Vorosha, Hafez Harun, Abu Motaleb, Md Iqbal Shahriar, Shaheen Ahmed, Md Naser, Abu Hossain Bhuiyan (Ranu) and Akkas Mahood, the committee's co-chairmen Azizul Hoque, Yakub Hossen Malik and Md Abdul Wadud, and FBCCI Secretary General Mohammad Mahfuzul Hoque, among others, were present.
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