9000 Monga-hit women to get training, jobs

The government with the support of the World Bank (WB) would provide 9000 women of the Monga-hit northern districts with training and jobs in the garment sector, Labour and Employment Minister Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain said yesterday.
“They will be trained and provided jobs with the help of the BGMEA and BKMEA under a project in three years,” he told newsmen after a meeting with a delegation of the WB at his office in the ministry.
The delegation included Acting Country Director of WB Robert Floyd, Task Team Leader Bhuvan Bhamagar and Consultant Daniel Ritchie.
Under a project titled 'Welfare and Employment Generation in the Garment Sector', the WB will provide $20 to $30 million by the middle of the next year, said Mosharraf Hossain, who is also in charge of the Ministry of Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment.
The detail of the project, however, is yet to be prepared.
Three dormitories will be set up in three EPZs (export processing zone) of Bangladesh Export Procession Zone Authorities (BEPZA) for the targeted women of the poverty-stricken remote areas, he added.
More dormitories will also be set up to accommodate more women for training and jobs for the women of the char and river erosion-hit areas in the future if Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) and Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) agree to provide land, the minister said.
BKMEA Vice President Zahidul Hoq Bhuiyan said such initiative is laudable because the basic trainings on sewing, knitting, quality control, health and rights and compliance issues turn them better equipped to work in the factories and get better salaries.
There is a BKMEA training centre in Rangpur where every month 100 men and women receive training.
“We found such training very effective, which is improving the overall labour quality,” he told The Daily Star over phone.