The government is preparing a guideline on disbursing the money deposited in the recently formed workers’ welfare fund. As of Sunday, more than Tk 2 crore has been deposited in the fund, said Labour Secretary Mikail Shipar. The government floated the fund for garment workers in September last year, and started deducting 0.03 percent of export receipts directly from the bank accounts of exporters from July this year. “We are preparing the guideline in consultation with union leaders and other stakeholders,” Shipar said. The fund is being created as workers do not get adequate compensation in case of industrial disaster like Tazreen Fashions fire or Rana Plaza building collapse, he said. The government, factory owners, international retailers and International Labour Organisation have to look for funds from various sources to provide compensation to victims, he said. The workers are supposed to get handsome amounts as compensation after any accident, but they do not get so because of a fund crisis, Shipar said. According to the guideline, a worker will get more than Tk 5 lakh from the fund in case of an accident whereas garment owners now pay Tk 1 lakh in such cases, he said. Nazma Akter, president of Sammilito Garments Sramik Federation, a rights group, said the fund should be spent meaningfully. “Meaningful spending will help improve the lives of the workers,” she said. The money from the fund should be handed over to the workers through their individual bank accounts, she said. Workers have to go through a complex procedure for receiving compensation, and in many cases, they fall prey to cheating, Nazma said. After the Tazreen Fashions fire and Rana Plaza building collapse, the government amended the labour law in parliament in July 2013. The government incorporated the option of deducting 0.03 percent of the export receipts of all garment makers in the rules of the amended labour law.
