DHAKA: State Minister for Labour and Employment Mujibul Haque Chunnu on Thursday expressed hope that ‘Domestic Worker Protection and Welfare Policy-2014’ would be passed in the cabinet within May.

The minister came up with the assertion in a roundtable at Dhaka Reporters Unity (DRU) auditorium in the city.

He said that the policy for the domestic help is under process. A 20-storey hospital would also be built in city for them, he added.

The quality medical services would be provided to the household workers from the hospital in minimum cost, Mujibul said.

Regarding the ongoing political unrest, the minister said that the anarchists are responsible for the losses of workers and day laborers during the blockade and hartals.

However, chief of the parliamentary standing committee on labor and employment Israfil Alam MP, among others, spoke at the program.

Israfil Alam said that some 86 percent of the domestic workers of the country do not have any recognition as workers. They are in a vulnerable position and treated as slaves, he added.

He also claimed that there are some 4.75 crore informal workers in the country.

However, a draft policy on domestic workers will be processed in the cabinet soon, he hoped.

Speakers in the program also mentioned that they have no minimum wage, no age limit, limitation on hours or protections of their rights in national legislation although some countries have enacted minimum wages.

The lack of legal protection means that domestic workers in Bangladesh go unprotected, they added.

The speakers also highlighted on the maternity safety matter, education, medical service and 10 other facilities and rights that a domestic help should have got.

BDST: 1727 HRS, JAN 22, 2015