Published :
Updated :
For all latest news, follow The Financial Express Google News channel.
Among the eight reform commissions formed by the Yunus-led interim government, the Labour Reform Commission, the last one to present its report, holds significant importance. This is the first time in Bangladesh's history that such a commission has been established to review the existing labour policies and laws, as well as the state of the labour market. The commission's mandate includes providing recommendations to rectify various anomalies in the laws and discriminatory measures that undermine labour rights and industrial relations. The commission has successfully completed this formidable task, and the report has been submitted to the Chief Adviser in the third week of the previous month. The 25 main recommendations of the commission encompass all aspects of labour reform.
One of the key recommendations is introducing a national digital labour registration system and a database. The commission argued that such a database is necessary to recognise all the labourers and workers in the country and to ensure their occupations, skills and identities. At present, there is no such database in the country at either the national or industry levels. Various sectors also do not preserve comprehensive data on the labourers or workers employed in these sectors. After the Rana Plaza disaster that killed at least 1,134 workers and injured more than 2,500 people, there was a move to build a database for all the workers employed in the ready-made garments (RMG) sector. The initiative, however, resulted in an incomplete and inaccessible database due to non-cooperation from the factory owners.
The commission's recommendation was that the proposed database should be universal and comprehensive so that it can be possible to identify all formal and informal workers and labourers along with those who are unemployed. It also stresses the database's easy accessibility and interoperability so anyone can find it useful. To develop the database, the commission stressed framing a policy in this connection. Registration with the system should also be mandatory for all labourers and employers to make the database effective, the commission added. This database will not only provide a comprehensive record of the workforce but also facilitate efficient hiring and job matching, and ensure fair labour practices.
The recommendation to develop a labour database is obviously a good one. Though difficult, considering digital logistics, it is not impossible to do the work. However, it will require a long time to register all the labourers and employers. Moreover, it will be continuous work as new workers are coming into the labour market regularly and some are also leaving the market for various reasons.
According to the Labour Force Survey (LFS) 2023, the total number of labourers in the country is 73.45 million, of which 48.12 million are male and 25.33 million are female. The survey also showed that 2.46 million, or 3.35 per cent, of the total labour force was unemployed in 2023. In other words, the suggested database should contain information on at least 71 million people who were employed in 2023.
Motivating the workers to get registered with the system will be a big challenge. Most workers may think it is useless and may not be encouraged by employers to do so. Even many employers and factory owners may try to avoid registration as they don't want to provide their information. In this connection, an extensive awareness-building programme will be required. Including the informal workers in the database may also be more challenging by registering. LFS 2023 showed that 84.10 per cent of the total labour force in the country is employed informally.
The pattern of employed workforce by broad economic sector is another thing to consider. Around 45 per cent of the total employed people are in agriculture, followed by 38 per cent in services and 17 per cent in the industrial sector. Registering those who are in agriculture will be more challenging and time-consuming due to the vastness of the sector and the scattered nature of agri-labourers. Moreover, a large number of agri-labourers work seasonally in the field and the rest of the time in the service sector.
If not designed properly, providing inputs into the database system for registration and preservation may be time-consuming. So, once decided, the government has to design and test the system carefully. There is also a need to deploy a well-trained team to do the work across the country. Registration booths may be opened in various industrial and commercial areas in this connection. Moreover, some data entry staffers need to send a tablet or necessary device to collect data from multiple factories and offices. As the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) used to deploy enumerators gathering citizens' data for any census, it can provide necessary assistance for the labour database. The process will involve setting up registration booths, deploying data entry staff, and ensuring the security of the data collection process.
However, data privacy will be a major concern. Despite developing the necessary tools to maintain a robust database, ensuring citizen data privacy is still a matter of concern in the country. Due to a lack of weak security, a number of privacy breaches and unauthorised extraction of data from the national repository took place during the now-ousted Hasina regime. Thus, strengthening the data preservation and protection infrastructure is a must.
To make the labour database effective and efficient, the commission also suggested interoperability with other databases, like the national identity card database. Interoperability will help cross-check the authenticity of a worker's data and obtain additional information. Again, a strong security feature is necessary to avoid any vulnerability of interoperability.
Despite the numerous challenges and barriers, the interim government should initiate the primary work of developing the proposed labour database. Following the basic outlines suggested by the commission, a dedicated team will be formed to conduct the work. Various ministries and departments should cooperate to introduce the system. A well-designed and developed database will not only make it easy for the government to provide assistance and welfare allowances to workers when required but also ensure necessary insurance coverage for vulnerable workers. Finally, it will help make the labour market efficient in the near future, ushering in a new era of labour reform.