A special fund to be contributed by the country’s banks and financial institutions will be formed in next 15 days to help victims of Savar building collapse that left at least over 380 people killed.
The decision emerged from a meeting of Bangladesh Association of Banks (BAB) and Association of Bankers' Bangladesh (ABB) at Bangladesh Bank yesterday.
The meeting also decided to donate one-day salary of officials of all scheduled banks to the Prime Minister's relief fund to help the victims.
“Of the fund to be raised from salary, a portion will be donated to the Prime Minister’s relief fund and the remaining will be spent for buying rescue equipment which will be handed over to the authorities concerned of the government," BB Deputy Governor SK Sur Chowdhury told reporters after the meeting.
The special relief fund will be created separately to help victims of the tragic incident, he said.
Standard Bank Chairman and FBCCI President Kazi Akram Uddin Ahmed said we want to stand beside victims of Savar tragedy.
“We've decided in principle to form a special relief fund… the amount an individual bank will be able to contribute to this fund will be determined in next 15 days,” he added.
If the country’s all 50 banks contribute Tk20m each to the special fund, the size of the fund will stand at around Tk1bn, he said
The meeting also discussed about possibilities of providing jobs in different banks to those who have been working with the rescue team of the army and other forces from the very beginning of the incident as per their respective educational qualifications.
Bangladesh Bank Governor Dr Atiur Rahman presided over the meeting attended by BAB President Nazrul Islam Majumder, ABB President Nurul Amin and top executives of all banks.
