The other side of violence in RMG industries
Wednesday, 5 August 2009
THERE are lots of truth in what the owners of readymade garment (RMG) units are saying about vested interest groups working behind the wings to destroy the RMG sector. Government not only needs to pay the highest attention to these allegations by investigating the same but also should take drastic steps for arresting and punishing the guilty ones in an exemplary way.
But that is only one side. There are also other vital sides where the government's attention and response are required for the RMG sector to stay afloat. These requirements mainly involve the government declaring a package of financial assistance to the sector to help it to retain its competitiveness.
The owners of our RMG industries remain too hard pressed to keep their units operational under demand from buyers for price-cuts of their products. Countries competing with Bangladesh are also luring away orders from Bangladesh by offering lower and lower prices. Under the circumstances, our RMG industry owners facing difficulties in order to remain functional by cutting costs to the bone that include in some cases delayed payments to workers or even reducing their wages in some cases. No doubt, these steps resorted to by the garments operators out of desperation also contribute to the destructive attitude of workers of the type which was considerably reflected in the violence in RMG industries at Ashulia and elsewhere recently.
Therefore, a part of the solution to restore calm and order in the RMG sector would be government extending its effective assistance programme to this sector. The same would help the garments industries to retain their competitiveness and enable them to pay off the workers as per commitments.
It is a unsavoury situation where the top foreign currency contributes that earns annually to on an average 75 per cent of the country's hard currencies from exports and employs the greatest number of workers in the organised industrial sectors, was shown no effective concern when the government's long awaited package programme for the recession hit export-oriented industries was unveiled sometime ago.
Government should see the merit of extending an adequate package programme of assistance to the garments sector at the soonest.
Amin Ahmed Chowdhury
New Eskaton, Dhaka.
But that is only one side. There are also other vital sides where the government's attention and response are required for the RMG sector to stay afloat. These requirements mainly involve the government declaring a package of financial assistance to the sector to help it to retain its competitiveness.
The owners of our RMG industries remain too hard pressed to keep their units operational under demand from buyers for price-cuts of their products. Countries competing with Bangladesh are also luring away orders from Bangladesh by offering lower and lower prices. Under the circumstances, our RMG industry owners facing difficulties in order to remain functional by cutting costs to the bone that include in some cases delayed payments to workers or even reducing their wages in some cases. No doubt, these steps resorted to by the garments operators out of desperation also contribute to the destructive attitude of workers of the type which was considerably reflected in the violence in RMG industries at Ashulia and elsewhere recently.
Therefore, a part of the solution to restore calm and order in the RMG sector would be government extending its effective assistance programme to this sector. The same would help the garments industries to retain their competitiveness and enable them to pay off the workers as per commitments.
It is a unsavoury situation where the top foreign currency contributes that earns annually to on an average 75 per cent of the country's hard currencies from exports and employs the greatest number of workers in the organised industrial sectors, was shown no effective concern when the government's long awaited package programme for the recession hit export-oriented industries was unveiled sometime ago.
Government should see the merit of extending an adequate package programme of assistance to the garments sector at the soonest.
Amin Ahmed Chowdhury
New Eskaton, Dhaka.