State minister for labour Md Mujibul Haque Chunnu Tuesday urged foreign diplomats to take necessary measures so that buyers of their respective countries offer “fair” price of locally made apparel products for a sustainable garment industry. ” … I request the foreign diplomats and donor countries to convey our message to their respective countries’ governments that Bangladesh has been taking measures for ensuring workplace safety, framing laws and environmental standards so that apparel buyers don’t offer low rate in the name of competitive market,” he said. Noting multinational brands source apparel items from where they get the lowest price, he said that the buyers find Bangladesh to be attractive as it is still competitive in terms of price. If factories do not get fair prices, how the country can meet all the issues related to safety, workers wage hike and other issues, he added. He called upon the global buyers for ethical price of locally-made apparel items. The minister made the remarks while speaking at the launching ceremony of a digitalised ‘Labour Inspection Management Application (LIMA) system held at a city hotel. The minister also criticised the apparel apex bodies-the BGMEA and the BKMEA-saying the two associations are yet to complete the workers’ biometric database and pressed for completing the database shortly. LIMA is expected to improve the collection, storage and analysis of labour inspection data, benefiting workers and employers in all industrial sectors. The state-run Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishment (DIFE) developed LIMA, supported by the International Labour Organization’s Improving Working Conditions in the Bangladesh Ready Made Garment Sector programme funded by Canada, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Some 250 android tablets were handed over to the DIFE on the same occasion, to be used during inspections. Dutch ambassador to Dhaka Leoni Margaretha Cuelenaere, British high commissioner to Dhaka Alison Blake, Canadian high commissioner to Dhaka Benoit Prefontaine, ILO Bangladesh officer in charge Snehal Soneji and DIFE inspector general Shamsuzzaman Bhuiyan were present, among others. Regarding LIMA, the minister said “LIMA is a milestone in the march towards digital Bangladesh and testament to the commitment of the government to ensure that every workplace is safe and that the rights of workers are respected.” Appreciating the measures so far taken in the country’s readymade garment sector, Ms Blake said that they want to see that “everything produces in Bangladesh is from safe workplaces.” Mr Soneji said, “The LIMA system is much more than inspectors simply using a tablet computer instead of a pen and paper. It represents the progress made in the reform of the labour inspectorate and the commitment of DIFE’s leadership to digitalisation and transparency.” LIMA is set to make DIFE’s operations more effective by combining its key data gathering and management needs in one platform. It will also enhance data accessibility and transparency by making certain information available to employers and workers while facilitating day-to-day tasks such as factory licence applications or the submission of complaints. Highlighting the importance of the new system, the DIFE chief said it would make their operations more effective, thereby helping enhance the welfare and safety of working people and also improving productivity of industries as well as DIFE to generate a variety of reports. LIMA comprises four different modules. A Factory/Establishments Database module allows for the online application of factory layout plans and licences and its labour Inspection module for inspection planning, data collection and reporting. Information gathered during inspections is fed directly into the LIMA database where it can be used to inform management decisions. An Occupational Safety and Health module is used for notifications relating to workplace accidents. Other LIMA modules are used for the tracking of remediation work of garment factories under the National Initiative as well as for following up on DIFE’s internal operational activities. Additionally, LIMA features a ‘DIFE Complaint Box’ that allows workers or employers to make a complaint to DIFE about workplace issues. This can be done either through the LIMA website https://lima.dife.gov.bd or via a smart phone app, which can be downloaded at Google Play (search keyword, DIFE Complaint Box) or at https://bit.ly/2DSTRBI.
