Training institutes to increase manpower export
Tuesday, 8 January 2008
POLICIES need to be set in motion so that a much greater number of people can go abroad from Bangladesh with some skills and training for jobs. Unskilled and untrained workers are paid less and are also most vulnerable in foreign job markets. Therefore, the government's aim should be to create facilities for the job seekers to acquire skill or training in diverse areas which have market demand abroad. Government should establish many training centres all over the country to this end and admit trainees with nominal fees or on conditions that they would pay for their training charges after they get jobs abroad.
Overseas job seekers in Bangladesh are seriously handicapped by the fat fees they are usually required to pay to private manpower exporting companies. These companies declare on paper that they take the government approved fee per person but use covert means to extort much higher fees. This aspect needs to be seriously investigated and appropriate actions should be taken against such unethical practices. The public sector banks can be asked by the government to extend collateral free loans at easy interest rates to those who would use the same to pay the fees of the manpower exporters. The loans may be extended on such terms that the same would be recovered on easy instalment basis from the earnings of the workers abroad. If these steps are taken, then it will become easier for a far greater number of people to go abroad with jobs and the total earnings from remittances could also rise substantially as a result.
Bangladeshi workers abroad are poorly represented. They hardly get assistance from their missions in taking up issues such as non enforcement of contracts, breach of contract and underpayment of salaries and other monetary benefits by the foreign employers. With energetic activities of the diplomatic missions in these areas, the earnings of overseas workers could notably increase and also the remittances.
Saajad Chowdhury
Napyapaltan, Dhaka.
Overseas job seekers in Bangladesh are seriously handicapped by the fat fees they are usually required to pay to private manpower exporting companies. These companies declare on paper that they take the government approved fee per person but use covert means to extort much higher fees. This aspect needs to be seriously investigated and appropriate actions should be taken against such unethical practices. The public sector banks can be asked by the government to extend collateral free loans at easy interest rates to those who would use the same to pay the fees of the manpower exporters. The loans may be extended on such terms that the same would be recovered on easy instalment basis from the earnings of the workers abroad. If these steps are taken, then it will become easier for a far greater number of people to go abroad with jobs and the total earnings from remittances could also rise substantially as a result.
Bangladeshi workers abroad are poorly represented. They hardly get assistance from their missions in taking up issues such as non enforcement of contracts, breach of contract and underpayment of salaries and other monetary benefits by the foreign employers. With energetic activities of the diplomatic missions in these areas, the earnings of overseas workers could notably increase and also the remittances.
Saajad Chowdhury
Napyapaltan, Dhaka.