The government has set aside Tk 1.69 billion to clear a portion of arrears of works in state-owned jute mill ahead of the Eid-ul-Fitr.
The Ministry of Finance allocated the amount as an operation loan. The payment has to be completed through bank accounts of workers, the textile and jute ministry said in a statement.
A detailed statement, including the list of workers of each mill, has to be sent to the Finance Division within a week after the payment, according to the letter of the jute ministry, reports BSS.
The move comes following countrywide demonstrations by workers for around two months to press home their nine-point demand.
According to a letter of the Finance Ministry sent to the textile and jute ministry of Textile and Jute, the loan has to be repaid within 20 years with five percent interest.
It asked the Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation (BJMC) has to sign a loan agreement with the Economic Relations Division before adding the fund can be only used to clear arrears of jute mill employees.
The Finance Division’s move comes after the BJMC, in the face of widening losses and falling sales, sought Tk 3.37 billion to clear wages and salaries of employees of nearly 32,000 workers and officials of 25 state-owned mills.
Since 2009, the government gave the BJMC Tk 74.77 billion to bail it out of its financial troubles, an English daily reports citing government data.