Editorial
Rice rations for RMG workers
Govt and BGMEA both deserving of commendation
WE applaud the announcement made by the BGMEA that it will start providing rice rations to garment workers in Dhaka and Chittagong at Tk 16 a kg by May 15.
With the market price of rice currently at Tk 20 and the government procurement price set at Tk 22, this initiative has the potential to benefit hundreds of thousands of garment workers, and is a good example of the kind of co-operation between the government and the private sector that can be implemented to help working Bangladeshis weather the current financial distress. The BKMEA has also indicated that a similar move is in the offing, and we would strongly urge the knitwear factory owners to follow the lead of the BGMEA thereby taking the safety net further.
Indeed, this initiative is a good example of the kind of co-operative relationship between the government and industrialists that we would like to see brought to bear elsewhere to address the nation's problems. Here we have the government joining hands with the factory owners to ensure that a pillar of our economy, the garment workers, receive some relief from their financial woes.
Garment worker salaries, even after the new deal that has been inked, remain on the low side, relatively speaking, so the subsidised rice comes as a relief to them.
This programme is a way for the owners to confer a benefit on the workers at minimal cost to themselves, by leveraging their organisational capacity and taking responsibility for overseeing the program.
Similarly, it makes sense for the government to essentially sub-contract the rationing process out to the owners so that the government does not have to handle the complexities and bear the expense of distribution.
All in all, the initiative is smart policy that demonstrates a welcome co-operation between the government and the private sector, and the end result will be a much-needed and appreciated subsidy for garment workers.
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