The Center for Policy Dialogue (CPD) on Thursday recommended the continuation of the ongoing ready-made garment (RMG) factory closure in parallel with public holidays to help contain the spread of the Covid-19 outbreak.
State Minister for Public Administration Farhad Hossain on Wednesday said the government will extend the nationwide shutdown of offices and workplaces to May 05 amid the worsening outbreak.
“Given the health emergency currently in place, factories need to continue ongoing ‘holidays’ as per government instructions,” CPD additional research director Dr Khandaker Golam Moazzem said while presenting his key note paper.
He was speaking at a virtual discussion meeting on ‘COVID 19: Workers and Employers of the RMG Sector Facing Crises: Government Initiatives and Way Forward’, just a day before the seventh anniversary of the Rana Plaza tragedy.
Regarding the forceful operations by factories amid the shutdown, he said it was reported that some garment factories forcefully operated and did not properly maintain official instructions.
As per the International Labour Organization, or ILO’s emergency guidelines, no factories can force workers into working during the time of emergencies, he added.
On April 8, some six garments in Savar, 10 in Chittagong, 21 in Gazipur, and four in Dhaka metropolitan area were open, he added.
According to the Industrial Police (IP), however, some 103 out of 1882 members of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), 11 out of 1101 units registered with Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) and seven out of 389 member mills of Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA) remained open until Wednesday in six industrial belts under the IP jurisdiction.
Mr Moazzem said most hotspots for coronavirus outbreak so far are in Dhaka, Narayangonj and Gazipur, which are the most crowded cities of the country and most importantly home to major RMG clusters.
It is apprehended that a section of RMG workers and those involved in RMG-related businesses may get infected because of living in those congested areas, he said in the paper.
The Institute of Epidemiology Disease Control and Research (IEDCR), and the ministry of health may consider updating regularly about coronavirus patients along with their professions/work engagement with a view to better targeting and undertaking better controlling measures, the CPD additional research director added in the paper.
