Swisscontact, a Switzerland-based NGO that works for poverty alleviation, has joined hands with Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) to rehabilitate garment workers affected by the pandemic in Bangladesh, reported UNB.

A development project - Sarathi: Progress through Financial Inclusion - by Swisscontact Bangladesh will be started to support apparel workers and factories that are still reeling from the disruptions brought about by the pandemic. An agreement with the BKMEA was signed on Monday in this regard.

Under the project, 400 workers will receive a portion of the wage subsidy. Operations of many garment factories were affected by the pandemic; Some of them even ceased their operations permanently.

The project would identify small and medium readymade garment (RMG) factories, which are struggling to receive production orders amid the pandemic. The BKMEA would help the firms affected by the pandemic based on specific selection criteria. The wages they pay to their workers would be subsidized under the project.

 The project has already engaged four commercial banks to digitize the wage payment system of 49 RMG factories, claimed the report. And, through its interventions, 76,000 RMG workers are receiving their salaries in their bank accounts and have access to banking products and services.

17,000 RMG workers have been trained on financial literacy and 200,000 people were reached through mass awareness campaigns conducted by Sarathi.