Recruitment of factory inspectors unlikely by Oct 15

The recruitment of 200 factory inspectors, mandatory for reinstatement of trade benefits to the US, might take long due to bureaucracy, the labour and employment secretary said yesterday.
The GSP review committee headed by Commerce Minister GM Quader on August 5 asked the labour and employment ministry to recruit the factory inspectors by October 15, ahead of the scheduled review of duty status by the Obama administration in December.
“It will not be possible by this stipulated timeframe, given the lengthy recruitment process for government jobs. All we can manage by October is the advertisement for the positions,” Labour Secretary Mikail Shipar told The Daily Star yesterday.
“My ministry sought permission from the public administration ministry in February for creation of 2,200 posts. We are yet to hear back—this is what I mean by the lengthy recruitment process.”
However, from the onset, Quader asked the labour ministry to recruit the inspectors under a special arrangement to circumvent the lengthy selection process for government positions.
Of the 2,200 posts sought, 800 were for factory inspectors, Shipar said. “However, there is a meeting scheduled for August 21 at the public administration ministry. Some of the posts might be approved then.”
Once the public administration ministry gives consent to the posts, the application will be sent to the finance ministry for another round of approval.
The United States Trade Representative (USTR), the chief trade negotiating body for the US government, suspended Bangladesh's Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) status on June 27 on grounds of poor labour rights and unsafe factory conditions.