Rana Plaza survivors rebuilding lives, slowly

Rafique Khan, who used to work at one of the five garment factories housed at the ill-fated Rana Plaza, set up a small grocery shop in Savar with the compensation money he received.

He was rescued in an unconscious state 19 hours after the building caved in on April 24, 2013, and after seven days of treatment, he regained his consciousness.

“I am lucky that I survived and could start my own business with nearly Tk 9 lakh as capital,” he said.

Khan is among the 51.8 percent of the respondents in a survey on Rana Plaza survivors who said that they have somewhat rebuilt their lives three years after the tragic event and have become gainfully employed again.

ActionAid Bangladesh, a global development partner, conducted the survey in March this year on 1,300 survivors and 500 relatives of the deceased. The findings of the survey were shared yesterday at a discussion on the Rana Plaza tragedy, at the capital's Brac Centre Inn.

The survey found that unemployment rate has gradually declined over the last three years and the employment rate steadily increasing.

Still, 48.2 percent of the survivors are unemployed three years on.

Among the currently employed, 21.4 percent are employed in garment factories, 23.2 percent are involved in petty business and 16.8 percent are working as tailors. Like Khan, 3 percent run grocery shops. Some 4.2 percent are engaged in wage labour and 4.9 percent in agriculture.

Aside from these, survivors are engaged in other types of income-generating activities as household help, salesperson, auto-rickshaw driver and mobile-phone repairer.

Those who are unemployed cited physical weakness (56.5 percent) and mental weakness (34.1 percent) as the main reasons for not being gainfully employed.

Some 41.1 percent of the survivors said their family income is between Tk 5,000 and Tk 10,000 a month, and 30.1 percent said it is between Tk 10,000 and Tk 15,000 and 14.8 percent between Tk 15,000 and Tk 20,000. Only 6.5 percent of the respondents said they have monthly income of Tk 20,000 and more.

“Evidence shows that the overall income of survivors is increasing compared to their income in 2013, 2014 and 2015.”

In the survey, 78.8 percent of the survivors said their physical condition is more or less stable and 14.6 percent reported that it is deteriorating, listing headache, difficulty in movement, and pain in hand, leg and back, as some of the major problems.

Some 58.4 percent of the respondents said they are still suffering from long-term psycho-social difficulties, 37.3 percent are more or less stable and only 4.3 percent have recovered fully.

“After around three years of the incident, trauma in the survivors, though not severe, still exists,” said the report.

With regards to monthly expenditure, 61.1 percent is spent on food, 15.5 percent on house rent, 12.4 percent on children's education and 8.4 percent on treatment.

For most of the relatives of dead workers, the major items of expenditure are food and children's education.

As a discussant, Khondaker Golam Moazzem, additional director of research at the Centre for Policy Dialogue, suggested introduction of special health cards for the survivors so that they can get free services from government hospitals.

“The survivors could not invest their money as the amount was not given at a time. They were given in phases and they spent most of the money for paying their previous loans and in meeting daily needs,” he added.

The victims received compensation from the government, the foreign retailers and donor agencies.

The survey found that 33 percent of the monetary support received by the survivors was spent on paying back debts, 49 percent on food and other household essentials including treatment.

Only 16 percent went to savings and investment, particularly in small business, land and cattle.

While moderating the discussion, Farah Kabir, country director of ActionAid Bangladesh, called for proper payment of the victim's compensation.

“While the compensation issue has been resolved to a large extent, the long drawn-out process undermines the usefulness of the support,” the report said.

ActionAid recommended a proper compensation mechanism, strengthening of the factory inspection department for streamlining the process of providing permits for setting up factories.

It also called for ensuring that the 'true spirit' of 'freedom of association' prevails by adequately empowering the trade unions to collectively bargain for their rights.