Institution of Textile Engineers and Technologists (ITET) at a seminar yesterday demanded setting up of an industrial police besides ensuring due facilities to the garment workers without any delay to protect the country's readymade garment (RMG) industry.
It also demanded immediate identification and punishment of the people involved in the recent garment unrest and development of law and order, reducing bank interest rate by 10 percent for export-oriented RMG and ensuring supply of gas and electricity as required.
ITET members said this at the seminar organised at the Dhaka Reporters' Unity auditorium in the morning.
They demanded steps to turn College of Textile Engineering and Technology into Textile University to ensure higher education, research and training to the textile engineers, the main operating power of textile and jute industry.
“Setting industry on fire or killing workers in violence cannot be accepted anyhow. There is no option to consider the incidents as conflict in industry, but a sign of conspiracy to destroy the industry,” said engineer Masudur Rahman, president of ITET.
Expressing concern over the recent unrest, ITET members said the recent unrest caused cancellation of orders worth several crore dollars and a loss of several hundred crore, exposing about 15,000 workers to loss their jobs at any moment.
They also emphasised keeping Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) men on high alert in industrial area to check unrest in future.
“The government assumed power with the pledge of creating employment and it has taken initiatives to create employment in the industry sector. So, the initiatives would be hampered if the unrest in the sector cannot be checked and hundreds of thousands of garment workers will become jobless,” said Masud.
Secretary General of ITET Enayet Hossain, Executive Member Asif Md Sami and Publication Secretary Abu Hossain Hitlu were also present.