A government-set hotline for the readymade garment sector has got a lukewarm response from the workers as the authorities have failed to create awareness about the initiative among workers and also failed to respond timely to the complaints made through the channel. The government established the hotline on March 15 last year and since the inauguration of the service till May 31 this year, a total of 1,105 complaints have been recorded of which 387 were irrelevant, according to the data provided by the Department of Inspection for the Factories and Establishments. According to the data, out of relevant 718 complaints only 176 have been settled in last one year and two months.The labour ministry officials, however, admitted that the response from the workers to the hotline initiative was really poor and the main reason was absence of publicity.Labour rights groups alleged that the hotline was only on paper but it was not effective at all as workers do not get remedy after lodging complaints through the hotline. ‘It is true the response of the workers is very poor and also the rate of settlement is too slow due to lack of publicity, shortage of manpower and lack of experience in handling such complaints,’ Syed Ahmed, inspector general of the DIFE told New Age on Thursday. He said that the government with the support of the International Labour Organisation established the service but the department needed more logistics support to make the hotline operational. ‘Workers are not interested to make call through the hotline as none yet got any remedy. I am in doubt whether the authorities record the complaints from the workers properly,’ Nazma Akther, president of Combined Garment Workers Federation, said.It was a good initiative but the government failed to make it effective, she said.Sirajul Islam Roni, president of Bangladesh Garment Workers and Employees League, said that the hotline was only on paper and it was not effective as workers do not get remedy after filing complaints through the channel. He alleged that in the name of workers safety and rights, the government and ILO officials were always busy with foreign tours and seminars while there was none who wanted to hear the workers’ voice. The government established the hotline in line with the Bangladesh action plan provided by the US in 2013 to implement with conditions included in the plan to become eligible to get back the lost generalised system of preferences in the US market. In the action plan, the US requirement was to establish directly or in consultation with civil society an effective complaint mechanism, including a hotline, for workers to confidentially and anonymously report fire, building safety, and workers rights violations.
