Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will launch an insurance scheme for workers going overseas on Dec 19. Such insurance will be mandatory for workers going abroad.
Earlier this year, the finance minister made a declaration to bring expatriates under an insurance cover. In the budget speech, the Minister said that without insurance, Bangladeshi workers regularly faced accidents and financial losses.
On an order of the Prime Minister, an insurance policy has been announced to safeguard the rights of expatriate workers.
There will be two types of insurance for Bangladeshi workers: in both cases, the tenure will be for two years. In one, the monthly premium will be Tk 990, of which, Tk 500 will be given by Wage Earners’ Welfare Board and the rest Tk 490 will be given by the expatriate worker.
In this case, the insurance coverage will be Tk 200,000. The premium for Tk 500,000 insurance coverage will be Tk 2,475. In this case, the Wage Earners’ Board will pay Tk 500 and the overseas worker will pay the rest.
The Prime Minister will inaugurate the insurance scheme on the occasion of the international migration day.
Director General of Wage Earners’ Welfare Board, Gazi Mohammad Julhas, said: “The work to bring expatriate workers under insurance scheme is at the final stage. A few deals need to be finalized with welfare board and hopefully, this will be launched in December.”