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PM's relief fund to merge with Rana Plaza package

Refayet Ullah Mirdha
Rana Plaza victims will receive compensation from retailers minus the amount they got from the prime minister's relief fund, Labour Secretary Mikail Shipar said yesterday.
For instance, as per ILO convention 121, a dead worker's family was supposed to receive Tk 29 lakh as compensation. So, if they have already received Tk 10 lakh from the prime minister's fund, they can expect to be given another Tk 19 lakh from the Rana PlazaTrust Fund.
"The victims thought they will receive money both from the prime minister's fund and the Rana Plaza Trust fund, but that will not be the case. The two will supplement one another," Shipar told The Daily Star.
A total of Tk 22.13 crore has been disbursed to the victims from the relief fund, according to data from the prime minister's office.
So far, a total of $25 million has been collected in the ILO-managed trust fund against the required amount of $40 million to adequately compensate the Rana Plaza victims, according to Roy Ramesh Chandra, secretary of IndustriALL Bangladesh Council, the local chapter of IndustriALL Global Union that initiated the trust fund.
"Retailers have started contributing to the fund, and we have started giving out compensation from it."
Of the retailers, British retailer Primark, who sourced from one of the five factories housed at Rana Plaza, contributed amply, of $ 10 million.
Gilbert Houngbo, deputy director general of ILO, is hopeful that the 200 brands would chip in, as the contributing amount will be "very low" if the $40 million is equally divided by 200 retailers. "But we need to push the retailers so that they contribute to the trust fund as soon as possible, although paying to the fund is not legally mandatory' for them," he told The Daily Star in an interview recently.
During the conversation, Houngbo said Bangladesh has progressed a lot with respect to workplace safety after the Rana Plaza building collapse. "With the progresses I am not disappointed."
He cited the registration of 141 trade unions in the past year in contrast to only three over the last three years as a case of "good progress in labour rights and freedom of association". "But we need to push the retailers so that they contribute to the trust fund as soon as possible, although paying to the fund is not legally mandatory' for them," he told The Daily Star in an interview recently.
During the conversation, Houngbo said Bangladesh has progressed a lot with respect to workplace safety after the Rana Plaza building collapse. "With the progresses I am not disappointed."
He cited the registration of 141 trade unions in the past year in contrast to only three over the last three years as a case of "good progress in labour rights and freedom of association".