Secretary General of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami and former member of Parliament Professor Mia Golam Porwar has issued the following statement on June 10, 2020 urging the concerned authorities to stop the termination of laborers in different sectors under the backdrop of financial collapse due to covid-19 outbreak.  

Amid the ongoing pandemic situation, the laborers of different mills and factories are leading a deplorable life. But the authorities are terminating the laborers randomly without considering their situation on humanitarian ground. It is a disgraceful and inhuman initiative indeed. A statistic reveals, till 7 June 2020, some 17 thousand 5 hundred and 79 laborers have been terminated from different factories in Dhaka, Narayanganj, Gazipur and Chattagram. Practically the numbers are huge than the statistics. Another study shows that, so far 36 million people have lost their jobs due to the impact of the covid-19 pandemic.

The factories are terminating the laborers without complying the existing labor laws. The terminated laborers are not getting their dues as well. In one side, there are scarcities of job opportunities, while on the other, without any income, the laborers are passing days amidst extreme misery. Even, they are struggling to manage their food.

The government had declared some stimulus package to rehabilitate the economy. If it was spent properly, the ongoing trend of terminating laborers could be avoided. It is the duty of the government to monitor the proper implementation of the declared stimulus package. We think, the government should be strict and pro-active to stop corruption, nepotism and embezzlement and simultaneously to ensure proper implementation of the stimulus package.

I am calling upon the concerned authorities to consider the laborer’s condition from humanitarian perspective and to stop the termination of laborers immediately.