Home Minister Muhiuddin Khan Alamgir on Wednesday warned that any attempt to create crisis in the readymade garment (RMG) sector will be dealt with a strong hand saying that any attack on the sector is tantamount to attack on the national interest. “The ill-attempt by outsiders to destablise the RMG sector will be curbed with all the strength,” he said while talking to reporters after a tripartite meeting among the Home Ministry, and the representatives of the owners and the workers. The emergency meeting was held at the Secretariat against the backdrop of the ongoing violent protests by RMG workers across the country demanding an increase in their minimum wages. “Those taking stands against the garment industry are going against the national interest. I call on the workers to make sure that there is no disturbance until the minimum wages are declared,” said MK Alamgir. It can be assured that the new minimum wages award will come at the end of November through the minimum wage board already constituted by the government, he added. Asked to explain his denial of the existence of any unrest in the sector at a programme earlier in the day, the Home Minister said he can still confirm that there is no unrest in the sector in general, although there are a few incidents. Former president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) Shafiul Islam Mohiuddin said the government must take the responsibility to keep running the RMG sector, saving the factories from rampages. “Some 140 factories were vandalised today. The way the destruction is going on… I think it’s not the workers who’re doing it,” he said. Shafiul said the workers be assured that the owners will accept any logical minimum wage award by the minimum wage board which has been working on it. Bangladesh Textile Garment Workers’ Federation president Mahbubur Rahman Ismail said both the government and the owners are responsible for the recent unrest in the sector. “About four and a half months have passed by since the minimum wage board has been formed. It’s now very uncertain whether the wages can be declared within the one and a half months’ time left for this government,” he said. “The sooner the wage is declared, the quicker the unrest will calm. If the government has the will, the minimum wage can be declared before the Eid,” he added. Shipping Minister Shahjahan Khan was also present at the meeting. – UNB
