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About 40 per cent of the garment factories has failed to keep up the commitment of paying festival allowance within the set deadline as workers of those units are yet to get the payment, according to industry insiders.
The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), in the 35th meeting on 'Crisis Management Core Committee on RMG Sector', committed to paying the festival allowance by August 24.
"On an average, until Monday, 70 per cent of the industrial units have paid festival allowance," director general of Industrial Police (IP) Nawsher Ali told the FE.
The rate is about 65 per cent for readymade garment factories, he said, adding the payment of monthly wage for August is relatively low.
The monthly wage payment is expected to be paid by August 30 and 31, he noted.
Vice president of the BGMEA Mohammed Nasir claimed that about 80 per cent of the factories had paid festival allowance and the rest would be pay before the announcement of the Eid holiday.
On the other hand, labour leaders said that 60 per cent of the factories has paid festival allowance and only the biggies have paid the monthly wages.
"Majority of the garment factories did not obey the Crisis Management Core Committee's decision regarding the payment of festival allowance and monthly wage payment," Sirajul Islam Rony, a labour leader alleged.
Workers of nearly 40 per cent garment factories are yet to get the festival allowance, he said, adding workers of some 300 garment factories are still in the dark about the payment of both allowance and monthly wage.
According to the police, some 852 industrial units out of 1,073 located in Savar, Ashulia and Dhamrai areas have paid festival allowance while only 20 per cent of them paid monthly wage until Monday.
Some 60 per cent of industrial units out of 2,137 located in Narayanganj have paid allowance and many of them made partial wage payment for the month of August, according to IP officials.
In Chittagong, there are 1,007 industrial units including 621 garment factories. Some 35 to 45 per cent garment units have paid festival allowance, they added.
Until filing of this report at 7.15pm, 65 per cent industrial units in Gazipur out of 1,815 has paid festival allowance, according to police officials.