As of October 2022, the Labour and Employment Ministry in Bangladesh has been able to disburse only around Taka 9 crore among 9,784 workers from the Taka 1,500 crore safety net programme set by the Bangladesh Government more than two and a half years ago for the workers who lost their jobs owing to the devastating impact of COVID-19 pandemic even as it targeted to disburse Taka 3,000 a month among 10 lakh retrenched workers in the export-oriented garment, leather and footwear sectors for a three-month period till the financial year of 2021-22.
This is as per media reports, which added the Labour and Employment Ministry was not getting the expected number of ‘legal beneficiaries’ having proper documents even as the scheme reportedly promised to provide some respite to the laid-off, disabled and insolvent workers since the COVID-19-induced economic crisis has left them without regular income and reduced earnings.
Meanwhile, speaking to the media, Executive President of the Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) Mohammad Hatem reportedly underlined the disbursement did not reach its target as it was difficult to find the real retrenched workers.
