The proposed national budget of Tk 603,681 crore for the fiscal year 2021-2022 has not taken into account the welfare of the labor force since it looks to promoting the business community, according to the Bangladesh Institute of Labour Studies (BILS).
At a virtual event on the proposed budget on Monday, the BILS made the statement, demanding that he budgetary allocation for the working class be raised.
The organization also placed a charter of 13 recommendations, including that for developing a complete database of workers across the country.
BILS Secretary General and Executive Director Nazrul Islam Khan said the budget would come into effect from July 1, but before that BILS wanted it to be made labourer-friendly.
“We urge the government to ensure the interest of trade unions in the budget, making it more labourer-friendly,” he said.
The BILS leader stated that the budget lacked any clear solution to the unemployment of nearly 25 million people.
“However, various opportunities have been provided to businessmen so they can profit more and raise the payments of their labourers. In reality, they keep expanding their business and show little interest in the welfare of labourers,” Nazrul said.
The proposed budget, he emphasised, must outline plans to eliminate unemployment through developing skilled manpower, he said, adding that those who had lost their jobs amid the Covid-19 pandemic must get assistance from the government until employed again.
The organaization’s deputy director, Md Manirul Islam, who presented the recommendations, said a mammoth 20-22 lakh people enter the job market every year, which needed to be given most importance.
Stressing the need for a database on labourers, he said the initiative, if implemented, would greatly help support the unemployed and give them job opportunities properly.
Considering the Corona situation, BILS Advisory Council Member Naimul Ahsan Jewel called on the government to consider the 13 recommendations
“Or else, the workers will continue struggling to assert their rights,” concluded Jewel, who is also the general secretary of Jatiya Sramik Jote Bangladesh, a labour organization.
