Food rationing for some 3 million garment workers looked uncertain as government and factory owners' sides traded blames for lack of willingness for the start. Sources said the garment owners were yet to take any comprehensive initiative to introduce the programme for the benefit of the workers.

BGMEA President Abdus Salam Murshedi told the news agency that it couldn't start the rationing programme in time due to the failure of the government side. However, Food Ministry officials said the garment associations deferred the initiative several times on different pretexts as they failed to organise themselves for getting the offer with low-priced rice for the stakeholders under social safety-net recipe.

On the other hand, Murshedi said BGMEA had sought the allocated rationing rice from the Food and Disaster Management Ministry for 30 garment factories after completion of all procedures, including getting dealership as per ministry's direction.

But the ministry has "failed" to allocate the rice for selling at subsidised rate. "Although the government said that they were ready to give the subsidised rice by selling out at TK 16 per KG for the garment workers, the allocation for the rationing programme was not included in the new budget," he said.

The sources said the government reduced the rice price for workers engaged in making the export commodity, garments, by Tk 2 per kg to Tk 16 following the demand from Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA).

However, the garment workers appreciated the government gesture for providing the rice at subsidised price but they were not now raising their demand to the owners for introducing the rationing programme. "It is not bad if the garment owners introduce the rationing programme for the workers.

But we don't now raise the demand for introducing the programme. Basically, we are negotiating with the owners to ensure minimum wage for the garment workers," garment workers' leader Nazma Akter said. She alleged both the government and the garment associations are reluctant to start the programme, which was planned in the wake of food-price rises in the recent past.

-The Independent