Gazi Anowarul Hoque :
The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) is lagging far behind of preparing workers’ biometric database after several time extensions mainly because of the reluctance of its member factories, sources said.
They said the association could not collect more than 30 percent of the total workers after more than three years of the initiative.
The BGMEA in October 2015 decided to start the database preparation move afresh after it was taken more than two and half years back.
Later, the BGMEA had set December 2015 as deadline for its members, which has been further extended to January 31, but the authority has again been failed to act accordingly.
In January last, the association extended the time for preparing the data base for one month but it had again failed to act according to the commitment only because of poor response of the factory owners insiders said.
“The biometric database is important to identify the real number and present status of workers,” BGMEA Senior Vice President & Managing Director of Giant Apparels Ltd Faruque Hassan told the NN on Sunday.
All members have to enroll the service for the sake of the industry, he added.
The database would preserve basic information about a worker, including his or her identification, family details, record about the workers’ service details, including factory and employer, dates of his or her joining or leaving the job and the reasons and also details of his/her skill.
It is also important for successful implementation and use of a proposed fund for all export-oriented sectors as the fund would be collected at a rate of 0.03 per cent from each export receipt, according to a BGMEA circular.
“The BGMEA members also need not to pay annual group insurance premium once the fund is fully functional,” it noted.
The importance of a worker’s central database got urgency after the Tazreen fire and Rana Plaza collapse as its absence and proper identification of victims took a long time.
It also allegedly delayed the process of compensation for the affected and their dependants.
On November 2015, the BGMEA renewed its agreement with two IT firms – Systech Digital Limited and Tiger IT Bangladesh Limited – to revive the programme for enrolment of biometric capture of the workers that started in June 2013.
In a letter to its members, the BGMEA said as per the rules under labour act RMG exporters would have to pay 0.3 per cent against their total export to the workers’ welfare fund established by the government and financial assistance for the deceased and disabled workers and premiums of group insurance would be paid from the fund.
Earlier, the BGMEA president Siddiqur Rahman said that to utilise the fund for the RMG workers the exact number and identification of workers were important.
According to BGMEA officials, maximum 2,700 out of the 3,500 member factories are in operation and it would be possible to introduce biometric database in the factories by June this year
The BGMEA letter said factory owners would have to pay from Tk 60,000 to Tk 1.95 lakh based on their manpower for completing biometric database at their factories.
The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) is lagging far behind of preparing workers’ biometric database after several time extensions mainly because of the reluctance of its member factories, sources said.
They said the association could not collect more than 30 percent of the total workers after more than three years of the initiative.
The BGMEA in October 2015 decided to start the database preparation move afresh after it was taken more than two and half years back.
Later, the BGMEA had set December 2015 as deadline for its members, which has been further extended to January 31, but the authority has again been failed to act accordingly.
In January last, the association extended the time for preparing the data base for one month but it had again failed to act according to the commitment only because of poor response of the factory owners insiders said.
“The biometric database is important to identify the real number and present status of workers,” BGMEA Senior Vice President & Managing Director of Giant Apparels Ltd Faruque Hassan told the NN on Sunday.
All members have to enroll the service for the sake of the industry, he added.
The database would preserve basic information about a worker, including his or her identification, family details, record about the workers’ service details, including factory and employer, dates of his or her joining or leaving the job and the reasons and also details of his/her skill.
It is also important for successful implementation and use of a proposed fund for all export-oriented sectors as the fund would be collected at a rate of 0.03 per cent from each export receipt, according to a BGMEA circular.
“The BGMEA members also need not to pay annual group insurance premium once the fund is fully functional,” it noted.
The importance of a worker’s central database got urgency after the Tazreen fire and Rana Plaza collapse as its absence and proper identification of victims took a long time.
It also allegedly delayed the process of compensation for the affected and their dependants.
On November 2015, the BGMEA renewed its agreement with two IT firms – Systech Digital Limited and Tiger IT Bangladesh Limited – to revive the programme for enrolment of biometric capture of the workers that started in June 2013.
In a letter to its members, the BGMEA said as per the rules under labour act RMG exporters would have to pay 0.3 per cent against their total export to the workers’ welfare fund established by the government and financial assistance for the deceased and disabled workers and premiums of group insurance would be paid from the fund.
Earlier, the BGMEA president Siddiqur Rahman said that to utilise the fund for the RMG workers the exact number and identification of workers were important.
According to BGMEA officials, maximum 2,700 out of the 3,500 member factories are in operation and it would be possible to introduce biometric database in the factories by June this year
The BGMEA letter said factory owners would have to pay from Tk 60,000 to Tk 1.95 lakh based on their manpower for completing biometric database at their factories.
