CARITAS – an NGO in Bangladesh - will put up the shutters on its silk factory and the sericulture project in Modhupur. Though the reason for the closure is quite unclear, the factory manager said that lack of adequate support from the higher authorities could the most probable explanation for the move. The story of CARITAS silk began when the sericulture project was initiated by the NGO in 1992. Similarly, a silk factory was established in Jalchatra in Modhupur. With the capacity of 54 looms, the silk unit provided employment to almost 500 women of the region. The 100 percent pure silk yarn and cloth manufactured under the project enjoyed
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| huge domestic market. However, in mid 2001 the association started cutting down jobs in the sericulture factory and this put an end to supply of yarn. This compelled the factory to purchase yarn from the market at high prices, which consequently led to an increase in the cost of production and subsequent fall in the market demand for CARITAS silk products. The situation has now turned from bad to worse and thus the association has agreed to terminate the project. While the general belief is that the closure is due to lack of initiative by the higher authorities, some sources claimed that CARITAS is now focussing more on credit giving activities and not on production oriented operations. 
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