A joint study has found the existence of about 450 occupations in the country's informal sector with the majority of the workers concentrated in retail and sales sector, followed by agriculture and livestock, food and beverage and transport and crafts.
The study titled "Mapping of Informal Sector Workers in Bangladesh: Challenges, Opportunities, and Policy Implications" surveyed some 768 workers of the informal sector in all divisions of the country.
Karmojibi Nari and the FES Bangladesh jointly conducted the study, in which about 69 per cent of the respondents were aged between 25 years and 44 years.
According to the study, the majority or 73.3 per cent of the informal workers in the country were either self-employed or running small business while 21.7 per cent were employed on a contractual basis and a few were regular or family-based labourers.
Hafiza Begum, Lead Researcher at Adhuna Bangladesh Limited, presented the study findings at a programme in the city on Monday.
Identifying 'no guaranteed income, health risks, unsafe working conditions, lack of access to social security as key challenges, the study showed that informal workers who constitute about 85 per cent of the total workforce were deprived of legal recognition, thus facing exploitation, disrespect and harassment.
Seasonal work and daily wage variability affect incomes particularly in agriculture and street vending sectors, the study report said, adding that access to formal financial service was limited while reliance on informal loans and community saving remained common issues.
Speaking at the programme, Syed Sultan Uddin Ahmed, Executive Director of BILS, stressed the need for developing a database of workers in the informal sector to ensure their social protection.
He observed that formalisation of both enterprises and employment should take place simultaneously in the informal sector.
He further said formalisation at the enterprise level would create problems.
Stressing the need for identifying risks of the informal sector and ensuring the basic rights of a citizen, he also called for raising the voices so that their demands are reflected in the election manifestos of individual candidates.
Mr Ahmed, who was the Chairman of the Labour Reform Commission, also suggested developing a 'grievance redressal mechanism' so that workers can lodge their complaints.
Saifuzzaman Badsha, President of Jatiyo Sramik Jote Bangladesh, demanded ensuring national minimum wages for all workers and also bringing all informal workers -- about 73 million -- under the labour law.
Speakers at the programme also demanded proper definition of informal sector's workers, their legal recognition, ratification of the ILO conventions 177, 188, 189 and 190 and implementation of the relevant ILO recommendations.
Resident Representative of FES Bangladesh Felix Gerdes, director of department of women affairs, Karmojibi Nari Additional Executive Director Sunzida Sultana and its Vice President Umme Hassan Jholmol, among others, spoke on the occasion.
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