Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA Saturday organised an event at Krishibid Institution Bangladesh in the city where insurance claim cheques were handed over to 429 families of workers who died in knitwear factories during the last three years.State minister for labour Mujibul Haque was the chief guest in the event.He said a total of Tk 85.8 million have been handed over to the families of the dead workers while 207 claims were settled from the Central Fund on RMG sector, 70 from Jibon Bima Corporation and the rest from Padma Life Insurance. About 0.03 per cent of each export receipts has been deposited to the Central Fund, the minister said adding Tk 960 million has been deposited in the Central Fund since July last year to till date.BKMEA president Salim Osman presided over the programme which was also attended by labour secretary Afroza Khan, BKMEA vice presidents Mansoor Ahmed, Fazlee Shamim Ahsan, among others.The BKMEA president sought the labour ministers’ assistance in getting a special allocation of cash incentive allocation so that all factory owners can pay wages and other allowances to the workers ahead of Eid-ul-Fitr.Though Finance ministry has already released Tk 11.05 billion cash incentive, only Tk 6.0 billion, out of the amount, has been allocated for the textile and clothing industry, he said adding claims worth of Tk 15.0 billion has been placed to the Central Bank.
