Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday said her government has taken all possible measures for treatment of the garment workers who suffered serious injury in the collapse of Rana Plaza in Savar. “So far, a total of 1,596 people have received treatment at different hospitals in the city. Of them, 21 seriously injured workers lost their limbs while 190 people require long-term treatment,” she told the Parliament during a question-answer session.
The prime minister said that presently eight injured apparel workers are under treatment at the Combined Military Hospital (CMH) in Savar while 17 more are being treated at the Combined Military Hospital (CMH) in Dhaka.
She said the government has provided all kinds of treatment, medicines and other materials for free to the injured Savar garment workers and gave assurance that it would bear all necessary costs until their full recovery.
In all, 18 medical teams of Bangladesh armed forces including 15 from the army, two from navy and one from the air force were constituted for providing medical care to the injured apparel workers of Savar, she said adding that a central monitoring cell of the military is supervising their treatment.
Sheikh Hasina informed the House that an amount of Tk 6.25 crore has been given to the families of 555 garment workers killed in the Savar incident from the Prime Minister’s Relief and Rehabilitation Fund and promised that the remaining families of all those who perished in Savar tragedy would be provided similar assistance in phases.
The prime minister further said that a financial assistance of Tk 2.65 crore has been provided to 24 disabled garment workers as a result of the Savar building collapse for their lifelong “Family Savings Bonds” enabling them to live a normal life.
She said the Madhumati Bank has also donated 100 wheel chairs for the disabled apparel workers, which would be handed over to them very soon.
She said her government has already paid medical bills worth Tk 1.42 crore to 22 Savar-based private hospitals, clinics and diagnostic centres for the treatment of the injured workers.
The prime minister said she visited the wounded garment workers at Savar Enam Medical College, Savar CMH, Dhaka CMH, Dhaka Medical College Hospital as well as Dhaka Orthopedic Hospital and provided Tk 75 lakh – Tk 10,000 each of 750 people who received treatment there.
Sheikh Hasina said a programme has also been initiated in cooperation with the National Mental Health Institute and Hospital for providing mental treatment to all those injured workers who need it. She said she has already accepted an offer from her counterpart of Thailand for help with artificial limbs to those garment workers who lost them. A similar offer from India is also under the consideration of the government, she added.
-With The Independent input
