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Dhaka – Bangladesh’s food minister on Sunday said the government is prepared to offer food assistance for over 3 million low-wage garment workers, starting early next month.
‘We are ready to give food ration throughout the year to the workers of ready-made garment factories,’ Abdur Razzaque, food and disaster management minister, said after a meeting with the leaders of the Bangladesh Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) and the Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association.
The move is designed to ease labour tensions in a country that relies heavily on garment exports.
The minister said that the government will provide 50,000 tonnes of rice, a staple food in Bangladesh, per month, for distribution at subsidized rates among industry workers.
He said that food assistance would begin the first week of April. He said the government is consulting with factory owners on implementing the programme.
Many of the workers are concentrated in the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka, its adjoining districts, and the port city of Chittagong.
Razzaque said the government will be able to supply the subsidized rice for the rest of the year. Under the program, each workers will be allowed to buy 20 kilogrammes per month at a rate equivalent to 0.26 dollars a kilogramme, slightly lower than market price. Purchases will be made on company premises.
Factory owners have been asked to work out procedures for the rice distribution. The government, which has 1.2 tonnes of food in reserve, wants to get the program started.
Abdus Salam Murshedi, president of BGMEA, said factory owners would soon meet to decide on the issue.
The government’s offer would help factory owners weather some of the problems brought on by the global financial recession, he added.
Bangladesh earns nearly 12 billion US dollars a year from the exports of ready-made garments, mainly to Europe and United States. Workers’ protests over low pay are frequent in the country.
