Rana Plaza tragedy survivors face financial hardship

The majority of Rana Plaza tragedy survivors have been facing immense financial hardship, as over 73 per cent of them are yet to get back work even nearly a year after the industrial accident, according to a survey report.
ActionAid Bangladesh conducted the survey covering 1,436 survivors and 786 family members of the deceased workers ahead of completion of one year of the Rana Plaza collapse at Savar on April 24 last year.
The report, which has been shared at a dialogue with stakeholders Sunday, has strived to ascertain the socio-economic conditions of the survivors and family members of the deceased workers and also look into their current needs along with analysing the support they have received so far.
ILO-Bangladesh Country Office Director Baki Srinivasa Reddy was present as chief guest at the dialogue on Remembering the Toiling Workers of Rana Plaza at theBRAC Center Inn at Mohakhali in the city.
The survey found that even after a year of Rana Plaza tragedy, still 73.7 per cent (1058 persons) of the 1,436 respondents had not yet returned to work due to physical ailment and psychological trauma.
In terms of percentage, over 63 per cent of the respondents could not return to work due to physical ailment while over 23 per cent did not return to jobs due to psychological trauma.
According to the findings, 76.2 per cent of the 1436 respondents are still regularly visiting doctors for follow-up treatment. Physical condition of 9 per cent of those taking treatment, are still deteriorating. The survey found that 1.5 per cent (21 people) were at serious health risks arising from their injuries.
Presenting the report, Amanur Rahman, Deputy Director (programme, policy and campaigns) of the ActionAid Bangladesh, said 58.2 per cent of the survivors had debt burdens, 37.7 per cent had no assets and 92.8 per cent had no savings.
He said most of respondents had the individual and family income level between Tk 5000 and Tk 10,000 and only few of them had income more than Tk 15,000 each.
"And their condition is getting worse day by day and more than 4 per cent of survivors are not in a position to meet their daily expenses," he added.
 "Everyone is talking about the financial support for the affected people of Rana Plaza. But there are still a large number of workers who are living with trauma who crucially require psychological counselling," says ILO Bangladesh office Chief Srinivasa Reddy.
He said many initiatives like formation of Rana Plaza Trust Fund, Prime Minister's Fund and process to ensure workplace safety in Bangladesh's apparel factories were going on since the worst ever industrial disaster happened.
"So, the momentum has just peaked up. It has to continue and we need to transform those into concerted efforts or in a way, which reflects transparency," he said.  
Speaking on the occasion, Member of Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Ministry of Labour and Employment Shirin Akhter MP called upon all the key stakeholders to immediately draw up a plan of action by accumulating all the initiatives.
She also said various professionals and institutions should create pressure on the government regarding the issue.
Assistant Executive Director of Bangladesh Institute of Labour Studies (BILS) Sultan Uddin Ahmed said activities of the garment owners and buyers indicated that they had been doing charity work in respect to the tragedy.
 "It's a legal obligation and we've to ensure it and we need a long term planning for the sake of their rehabilitation and we need to include the people who are yet to be brought in the basket," he said.    
Talking about the issue, First Vice President of Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) Mohammad Hatem said they provided a total of Tk 144.08 million equivalent to US$ 1.85 million in the form of treatment expenses, salary and other allowances.
Criticising some global companies, he said there was pressure on the apparel owners to buy fire door and other equipment from foreign companies, which would definitely increase their costs four times higher than the cost if imported from China.
Dr Mojtaba Kazazi informed that the Rana Plaza Arrangement Coordination Committee led by ILO had taken an initiative to open a bank account for affected families on a small scale to ensure all the supports were provided in a coordinated way.
UNB adds: Readymade garment (RMG) workers in the city Sunday demanded that the victims of Rana Plaza building collapse and their families be compensated by April 24 next, the first anniversary of the tragedy.
They came up with the demand at a human chain programme organised by Sommilito Garments Sramik Federation (SGSF) in front of the Jatiya Press Club in the capital.
SGSF president Nazma Akhter said many workers fell victim to different accidents in RMG factories each year due to negligence of the government and factory owners to ensure their safety.
BSS adds: Around Tk 38 crore (380 million) had so far been distributed as compensation among the family members of the victims of the Rana Plaza collapse since the tragedy occurred on April 24, 2013.
Of the amount, Taka 230 million was disbursed as financial assistance under the Prime Minister's Relief and Welfare Fund while the Tk 145 million was spent from Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA).
"We've given Taka 14.50 crore as compensation to 3,195 persons of the Rana Plaza victims. Now the ILO is looking into the entire rehabilitation for them," Md Shahidulliah Azim, Vice-President of BGMEA, told the news agency Sunday.
Azim, who was entrusted with the responsibility to look into the smooth disbursement of the $40m ILO fund from the association's part, said the ILO had been actively engaged in the fund mobilisation considering their irreparable loss of future earnings.