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Pay salary, iftar in time, police ask RMG owners

Steps to thwart unrest in garment sector

Staff Correspondent
Police authorities yesterday asked owners of garment factories in Tejgaon Industrial Area to pay workers their salaries, tiffin, iftar and other allowances in time during Ramadan since non-payment of them often leads to unrest in this month.
A special police team would be deployed in the area to thwart any unrest arising during Ramadan despite payment of salaries and other allowances, said Mahbubor Rahman, deputy commissioner of Tejgaon Division of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, at a meeting yesterday.
The industrial hub had witnessed severe violence for around a week during Ramadan last year as workers took to the streets demanding increased iftar allowance. Owners and top officials bf gat'-' ment factories decided at the meeting to form a task force in order to cooperate each other with supplying information and taking steps ifany violence erupts.
"A hotline will also be set up for quick dissemination of information about any kind of demonstration or violence," Mahbubor Rahman told the meeting at the Tejgaon Industrial Area Police Station on its "open house day", adding that police patrol will be increased.
He also requested the garment factory owners to provide workers at least Tk 20 a day as iftar allowance.
There are around 100 garment factories in Tejgaon Industrial Area and owners and top officials of 35 factories attended the meeting.
At the meeting they said a lack of understanding between the workers and the owners-management of garment factories often leads to workers' unrest.
"No problem will arise if the owners behave with workers as guardians, not as rulers," General Manager of SF Denim Apparels Ltd Major (retd) Rafiqul Islam said at the meeting.
Lt Col (retd) Mohiuddin, managing director of NASSA Complex, observed that workers often stage demonstrations being provoked by a number of so-called workers' organisations. These organisations sometimes even pay workers to carry out their plans to create unrest in garment factories cashing on which they earn huge benefit.
A few participants stressed the need for keeping vigil on workers who can make trouble.
The participants observed that almost all garment factories have already cleared the salaries and other allowances of their workers.
They said the garment sector is losing because of disunity among the authorities of different garment factories as some of them are engaged in an unhealthy competition by taking orders from foreign buyers at lower rates.
"The workers would have been paid more if the disunity among the garment owners could be removed," said Sheikh Shaheenul Islam, general manager of Les ComplicesTextile Ltd.
Another participant said owners in Tejgaon area patronise criminals to sell the "jhut" (garment byproducts) which often causes trouble. He suggested calling open tender for selling jhut to get rid of criminals.