"Compensating N’ganj Fire Victims: Company buys ‘legal immunity’", 7 September 2021

For a sum of Tk 2 lakh per deceased worker, Hashem Foods Ltd bought legal immunity from being prosecuted further.

When Hashem Foods gave Tk 2 lakh to the families of each dead worker, the company took an undertaking saying that the families have no more demand to make from it...

Even though the labour law says that employers have to pay Tk 2 lakh in compensation for a workplace death, there is an existing writ petition that was filed with the High Court on July 11 by four organisations seeking Tk 5 crore in compensation for each of such families...

"We spoke to the families of workers and all of them signed an undertaking before receiving the money," said Mahtab Uddin Ahmed, who along with a team from Drik, did a research on the affected workers.

"However not everyone could read what they were signing to. A few who had smartphones took photos which they later shared with us," said Ahmed...

Sajeeb Group's Senior General Manager (international markets) Kazi Abdur Rahman, said taking the undertaking did not mean the workers cannot make demands. "They are constantly making demands and we are trying to fulfill them," he said.

However when asked about legal claims for compensation made at court, he said he needs to speak to lawyers...