Dhaka to raise DIFE's capacity, labour ministry approves 162 new posts

23 Aug '22

2 min read

Pic: Shutterstock

Bangladesh recently initiated steps to strengthen the capacity of the department of inspection for factories and establishments (DIFE) to ensure workplace safety according to the national action plan on the labour sector. The labour ministry this month approved 162 new posts for the department, while 30 additional posts of labour inspectors were created.

The department now has 888 posts, including 311 inspectors to look after safety issues in more than 0.53 million factories. The total number of sanctioned posts of inspectors is 575.

The ministry has also approved setting up of eight new inspectorate offices in Gopalganj, Manikganj, Feni, Brahmanbaria, Cox's Bazar, Rangamati, Jamalpur and Naogaon.

The country’s development partners, including the European Union and International Labour Organisation (ILO), had been pressing for recruiting new labour inspectors and ensuring full functionality of labour inspectorate, according to Bangla media reports.

Poor safety maintenance and a lack of regular monitoring are allegedly responsible for the industrial accidents in the country's readymade garment (RMG) and other non-RMG sectors.

At the ninth session of the EU-Bangladesh Joint Economic Commission in October 2019, Bangladesh agreed to develop a national action plan on the labour sector. The final plan was developed in consultation with the EU and shared with the latter on July 1, 2021.

It was developed under nine areas, with a focus on legal and administrative reforms as well as enforcement of laws, capacity building and promotional activities.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)

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