Bilkis Begum's Wig Factory

About

In Noli (Nonni) village of Nalitabari upazila, Sherpur, 29-year-old Bilkis Begum owns and supervises a wig-making factory, which she runs together with her husband Md. Mizanur Rahman. Married at 16, she stitched kanthas to help support the family; she then learned wig-making from local woman entrepreneur Ishmat Ara, and she and her husband both worked under her. Later, with the help of the owner of Golden Hair Cap in Dhaka (financial support including land and a building), they opened their own factory; it began with 10-12 women and now about 250 women work there. All raw materials, including caps, hair, needles, chalk and pins, come from Dhaka, and the finished wig caps go via Dhaka to various countries. The factory has a two-storey building and a half-built building; the women work from 9 am to 5 pm, each making 10-15 caps a month, paid Tk 1,200-1,500 per cap by size plus a Tk 1,000 attendance bonus, earning Tk 12,000-25,000 a month. Bilkis has trained many women in the work and wants to enlarge the factory.

Products and services

• Wig caps

  Shipped abroad via Dhaka; workers are paid Tk 1,200-1,500 per cap

Address and hours

To learn or to work here

• Teaches

  Teaches local women to make wigs