Apparel Online India Magazine December 1st Issue 2018 | Page 17

SUSTAINABILITY
ILO ropes in Bureau Veritas to speed up
remediation work in B'desh RMG sector
The remediation work in
Bangladesh’s readymade garment
manufacturing sector is set to get
a boost after the International
Labour Organisation (ILO) decided
to rope in international testing,
inspection and certification
agency Bureau Veritas to help
expedite the remediation process
by supporting and enhancing
the capacity of Remediation
Coordination Cell (RCC) of the
Department of Inspection for
Factories and Establishments
(DIFE). As per the contract signed
between ILO and Bureau Veritas,
the latter will reportedly provide
engineering, case management and
training support to RCC and help
boost the existing capabilities of
the Government to speed up the
remediation efforts. The contract
would allow the remediation of the
factories to move faster and also
help in building stronger foundation
on the journey to graduate RCC
into competent industrial safety
unit, reportedly maintained
ILO Country Director Tuomo
Poutiainen, who signed the contract
with Umesh Jadhav, Managing
Director of Bureau Veritas
(Bangladesh) in Dhaka. Through
the support, RCC is expected to
evolve into an Industrial Safety
Unit (ISU) to provide oversight in
terms of industrial safety for all
industrial sectors in Bangladesh,
an ILO press release maintained.
“Under the agreement, RCC will
get 54 employees, including 34
engineers, to expedite remediation
in the factories inspected under
national initiative,” reportedly
maintained DIFE Inspector General
Shamsuzzaman Bhuiyan while
speaking to the media. It may be
mentioned here that the ILO is
supporting the operations and
capacity building of the RCC under
its ‘Improving Working Conditions
in the Readymade Garment Sector
in Bangladesh’ programme which
is funded by Netherlands, United
Kingdom and Canada.
Amann Bangladesh contributes BDT 6 lakh for
workers' welfare
Sewing thread manufacturer
Amann Bangladesh Limited
has contributed BDT 6 lakh to
the workers’ welfare fund of
Bangladesh, which has been built
by the Government as a safeguard
source of reserve to assist workers
injured in workplace accidents.
Md Rokonuzzaman, MD of the
Germany-based firm, handed
over the cheque of BDT 6.23 lakh
to State Minister for Labour and
Employment Md Mujibul Haque
at the latter’s Secretariat office.
The minister accepted the sum
with gratitude. Among others who
were present in the programme
were Secretary for the Ministry
of Labour and Employment
Afroza Khan, Workers’ Welfare
Foundation’s Director General
Dr Anisul Awal, and Finance
Director for Amman Bangladesh
Amzad Hossain. Bangladesh
Government has created the fund
for workers, where companies
deposit one tenth of their annual
net profit, in line with the labour
law. So far, 122 local, foreign and
multinational companies have
Md Rokonuzzaman,
MD of the Germany-
based firm, Amann
Bangladesh handed
over the cheque of
BDT 6.23 lakh to State
Minister for Labour and
Employment Md Mujibul
Haque at the latter’s
Secretariat office.
chipped in to create a fund of
almost BDT 312 crore. Junior
Minister Haque said, the fund is
being directed towards financial
aid and benefit of workers engaged
in the professional and non-
professional sectors of the country.
Bangladesh is giving BDT 2 lakh
financial assistance to any worker
who has died at the workplace,
BDT 1 lakh for any worker who
sustained incurable ailment,
BDT 3 lakh for education of their
children in state-run engineering,
textiles or agricultural universities.
Recently BDT 30,000 was handed
over to a carpenter Shyamal Kumar
in Sirajganj after reports were
published in newspapers that his
meritorious son Shuvo Kumar could
not pay the admission fees for
Dhaka University due to financial
disability. The money was disbursed
from the workers’ welfare fund,
according to ministry sources.
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