The Industrial Police (IP) has asked all textile and ready-made garment (RMG) factories to confirm workers' information provided during their job enrolments.
According to official sources, the law-enforcement agency found mismatch in information, especially name and dwelling addresses of workers, in national identity (ID) cards as many of them are mostly fabricated.
On December 23, the IP wrote to Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA), Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA) and Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Authority (BEPZA) to this end.
"During investigation of criminal cases," reads the IP letter, "it is found that a good number of workers of different industrial sectors, including RMG, provide false information when joining the workplace."
Workers provide false documents and use fake addresses, it states. "So, they [workers] can't be traced as they move elsewhere after committing any crime."
Such criminals often go unpunished and get involved in similar activities in other places, the police say, asking factories to verify their names and addresses.
Following the instructions, the BGMEA on December 29 issued a circular asking its member factories to verify workers' information provided during their appointment to avoid any unwanted situation.
According to the IP data, an estimated 8,000 industrial units located in six industrial zones, except the Dhaka metro area, are under the jurisdiction of the IP.
Some 1661 of the total factories are registered with the BGMEA, 725 are members of the BKMEA while 315 are associated with the BTMA.
Again, 369 of the total factories are under the BEPZA while the rest are non-RMG units, discloses the data.
