State minister for labour Mujibul Haque on Saturday said that the Minimum Wage Board on garment sector would submit its proposal recommending wage hike for the workers to the government by next three months.‘After getting the recommendations from the wage board, the government will set the minimum monthly wages for the garment sector workers taking all the situations into consideration,’ said the junior minister while handing over the insurance claim cheques to the families of 429 workers of the knitwear factories who died in the last three years.Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association organised the event at Krishibid Institution Bangladesh in the city. The first meeting of the wage board, formed on January 31, was held at March 19 where the labour organisations demanded Tk16,000 as the minimum monthly wages for the workers.The board, however, sought written proposals from both the representatives of owners and workers but the date for the board’s next meeting is yet to be set.At the BKMEA programme, a total of Tk 85.8 million were handed over to the dead workers’ families against 207 claims lodged with Central Fund on RMG sector, 70 with Jibon Bima Corporation and the rest with Padma Life Insurance.BKMEA president Salim Osman presided over the programme, which was also attended by labour secretary Afroza Khan, BKMEA vice presidents Mansoor Ahmed and Fazlee Shamim Ahsan, among others.
