Workers, who worked in the garment factories at Rana Plaza, will get Tk 50,000 each as compensation, to be disbursed by the Rana Plaza Donor's Trust Fund by mid-April.
Besides, the UK-based retailers have changed the previous stance of paying the compensation through their own scheme. Rather, they have agreed to pay it through the Rana Plaza
Compensation Coordination Committee.
The decisions came after a meeting of the committee on March 18.
The coordination committee is a multi-stakeholder body, tasked with developing and overseeing the arrangement. It includes representatives of the Bangladesh government, local industry, global brands and retailers, and Bangladeshi and international trade unions and non-governmental organisations (NGOs). The UN agency - International Labour Organisation (ILO) - acts as a neutral chair of the body.
The Trust Fund was formed to compensate the victims of the building collapse that killed more than 1,100 workers on April 24, 2013.
"Workers who worked in Rana Plaza garment factories will get Tk 50,000 each through bKash by April 25," Roy Ramesh Chandra, secretary general of IndustriAll Bangladesh Council, told the FE.
Terming the arrangement as a great one, he said it has been possible to compensate all the Rana Plaza workers, though they are alive and not physically injured, but traumatized due to the disaster.
According to him, a total of 3,639 workers were employed by five garment factories housed in the building.
Roy Ramesh Chandra also said during the meeting, the UK-based retailer - Primark - confirmed that it will compensate the 580 workers of New Wave Bottoms during April-May through the coordination committee.
Among the 580 workers, 200 are deceased workers' families or their dependents, including the 47 missing, while 227 are injured. They will get compensation according to the ILO convention, he added.
Earlier, Primark announced that it will distribute $9.0 million among the 580 workers of New Wave, one of the garment units located at Rana Plaza. Besides, it will contribute $1.0 million to the Trust Fund for workers, who worked in four other garment factories.
Processing of compensation claims for the Rana Plaza victims will start from March 24 from an office in Savar.
