It is extremely encouraging news to learn that the government is keen to introduce a national social insurance scheme in Bangladesh -- with an aim to enhance social safety of factory workers and common people.
In fact, that we are seeing pro-active initiatives -- a study has already been conducted on this prospective scheme initiated by the Cabinet Division by laying emphasis on the gradual introduction of four types of social insurance services in the country and that the Ministry of Labour and Employment has already taken steps to launch a pilot of the employment injury scheme to protect factory workers from injuries -- gives us reason to believe that this may indeed be something that will translate to reality.
Indeed, if we are to truly progress as a nation to being a middle-income and eventually a high-income economy, having basic insurance and safety nets in place for not just our industries but also our citizens is the very least we should expect.
To that end, it is better late than never that the authorities have realized the necessity. What is important now is for there to not be any further delays in materializing these plans to reality. Too often, Bangladesh appears to formulate the right plans which end up mired in bureaucracy and failing to see implementation.
To say that this is a long time coming would be an understatement. Yes, Bangladesh has progressed remarkably in recent times, but as has been stated time and time again, this progress has been far from equitable; the most deprived in society continue to be deprived while working in precarious conditions in order to survive. This can no longer continue to be the norm.