Sick returnee migrants to get financial aid
Kidney, cancer patients to get Tk 5000 per month
ARAFAT ARA | Sunday, 25 February 2024
The government has decided to introduce a medical allowance of Tk 5,000 per month to the returned migrant workers suffering from kidney or cancer disease.
The Wage Earners' Welfare Board (WEWB) has recently made this decision as the treatment of such diseases is quite expensive.
WEWB director (finance and welfare) Shoaib Ahmad Khan said they would start disbursing the allowance soon.
The board is currently giving maximum one-time medical assistance of Tk 150,000 to any worker returning with illness. Workers have to apply for this assistance within six months of their return home from abroad.
According to Mr Khan, a family becomes financially destitute while undergoing kidney dialysis and cancer treatment.
If the migrant workers are affected by these diseases, it is extremely difficult for them to continue with treatment.
"Considering these issues, we have decided to provide this support every month for as long as the workers suffering from these diseases survive," he told the FE.
The board could collect the data on those who apply for one-time existing medical allowance, said Mr Khan.
"We'll analyse data from the applicants who are down with kidney and cancer diseases. They will be given a one-time aid of Tk 150,000 and Tk 5,000 per month."
The WEWB distributed Tk 181 million as medical aid to the workers who returned home with different types of illness.
A total of 1,939 workers received the money during the 2010-2023 period.
However, sector insiders said the amount was still insufficient for the ones with serious illness as a significant number of workers returned with diseases like cancer, kidney and heart complications.
The services needed to be made more dynamic so that the workers do not suffer while receiving services from the WEWB, according to them.
Officials also spoke of a plan to further increase the amount as it is also thinking that the assistance would not be enough for treating a serious patient.
The WEWB maintains a welfare fund, which consists of workers' money.
Workers deposit Tk 3,500 in this welfare fund while going abroad, which is spent in various ways for their welfare.