Two members named for Rana Plaza commission

A coordination panel on Rana Plaza compensations has proposed to appoint former chief justice ABM Khairul Haque and Advocate Sultana Kamal as members of a commission for disbursement of the fund among the victims.
Mojtaba Kazazi, a United Nations expert on compensation, has already been appointed as the commissioner of the three-member commission formed by the panel, said Roy Ramesh, general secretary to the IndustriALL Bangladesh Council.
The appointment of two commissioners might be finalised by Monday, as the disbursement of the compensation will have to be completed by April 24, the first anniversary of the nation's deadliest industrial disaster.

The Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust will fix the claims according to the international and local laws.
Bangladesh Institute of Labour Studies will fix the labour law-related problems in the process, while Indus-tyriALL plans to disburse the money through Dutch-Bangla Bank, as the bank has a nationwide network, Ramesh said.
For the $40 million compensation fund, the Council has sent letters to the retailers which used to source garment items from the factories housed in Rana Plaza, he said.
“Letters have also been sent to the 150 signatory retailers and brands to the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh, a legally binding agreement.”
The compensation will be fixed under the Convention 121 of the International Labour Organisation, Ramesh said.
As per the convention, the family of a dead worker will receive the money on a 'loss of earning' formula, and the amount will cross Tk 28 lakh, he said.
By one estimate, the average age of each Rana Plaza victim has been determined as 25 years, and they could have been serving the factories up to 60 years, the service age-limit for government employees.
The average monthly salary of a worker has been set at Tk 7,000.