That Readymade Garment (RMG), the country's largest foreign currency-earning sector, has so far been running without a precise and dependable set of data on its workforce and other relevant information is most unfortunate. Happily, a belated attempt has been made to get over the inadequacy. A project titled Mapped in Bangladesh (MiB) initiated by the Brac University and supported and backed by development partners and trade bodies in the sector respectively has sought to present a 'real-time' set of data that will give an authentic and clear picture of the sector. The first phase of the survey started in December 2017 to be completed next month has estimated under its digital mapping programme the number of workers at 2.7 million while it is 4.3 million according to the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA). Similarly, the survey finds 3,485 RMG units as against the BGMEA's 4,500 (approximately).
The discrepancies in both the numbers of workers and factories are glaring, particularly when those concern the figures of employees. However, the BGMEA agrees on the number of RMG manufacturing units because many of them set up earlier are no longer in operation now. Also, there are unregistered units and others engaged in sub-contracting. These are reasons behind the discrepancies in figures on both counts. But the margin of gap between the numbers of workers estimated by the Brac survey and those by the BGMEA still maintains is outrageously wide. It is because neither the government agencies nor the BGMEA has updated the data. Workers who left their job for good are still retained as employees with factories. Clearly, such botched-up figures or data are of no help to form a clear idea or picture of the country's highest revenue-earning sector. Under pressure from foreign buyers, RMG units had to bring their infrastructure in order, including retrofitting where required. But if their driving engine---workers to be precise ---is not placed at the centre of all activities, they are sure to suffer.
An imprecise database of workers and units can be of no help to develop future planning with the RMG industry. Even the backward linkage units and sub-units require to be planned according to the demand. For example, if the knitwear apparels find a larger market than before, it calls for expansion of the units of this particular type and therefore the backward linkage units also need to be developed commensurate with the demand. This is exactly how industrial development takes place.
Then the saga of workers' exploitation can as well be perpetuated on the basis of imperfect data. What is needed here is an open book from which no party can take an undue advantage. There is no arguing that the pandemic has further eroded the bargaining power of the RMG workers---in fact, most of the workers in the informal sector. Now that the RMG is making a turnaround, workers should be allowed to enjoy what they deserve in a volatile market. The low-paid workers and employees are keeping their mere existence by the skin of their teeth. In a situation like this, they cannot be expected to give their best. They must be given their due in order to maximise their productivity which is at the core of sustainability in a competitive world.