Informal Sector Industry Skills Council (ISISC) has demanded an emergency fund for around 20 million people involved in informal sector in the wake of coronavirus outbreak. The council also urged the government to provide emergency loans with lower interest rate for the people, such as small entrepreneurs and labourers, reports BSS. “Around 20 million people engaged in jobs in the informal sector have already become temporarily jobless as COVID-19 outbreak putting serious pressure on the economy,” the ISISC said in a statement. So, the government, it said, should create an emergency fund for small entrepreneurs and labourers in the informal sector and provide emergency loans with lower interest rate in view of the coronavirus outbreak. The statement, signed by Md. Abdul Aziz Munshi, a specialist of the informal sector, pointed out that the coronavirus pandemic has substantially put adverse impact on various trades in the informal sector. “Many small entrepreneurs are in a distressed situation as their income is almost nil at this moment and they are facing shortage of funds to maintain family and pay salaries to the employees,” it said. The ISISC lauded Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for announcing Tk 727.50 billion stimulus package to facilitate large, SMEs and micro-businesses and enterprises, saying that it is a well-timed and crucial financial decision. “The declared package, however, would not benefit the entrepreneurs, Master Craft Persons (MCPs) and labourers in the informal sector as the industry is not yet covered by SME definition of the National Industrial Policy 2016,” the statement read. It said the declared package will largely be used by SMEs, cottage and big businesses defined in the National Industrial Policy, adding the industry people and labourers cannot avail the assistance provided by the government under the social safety programmes. The ISISC requested the government to allocate cash support for entrepreneurs, MCPs and labourers for saving informal sector industries and called for engaging financial institutions to lend money from the support package to assist informal business. Established by the National Skills Development Authority (NSDA) under the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) as a non-profitable organisation, ISISC has been working with the informal sector industries in Bangladesh since 2015. Major trades and enterprises of informal sector include tailoring and dressmaking, block boutique & screen-print, embroidery and nakshi kantha, handloom, beautification, driving, motorcycle mechanic, automobile mechanic, electric house wiring, electronics mechanic, sanitation housing, construction housing, painting and mobile servicing. Other trades and enterprises include tiles fitting, steel furnishing and making, plumbing, refrigeration & air condition, boat & furniture making, welding, photography, graphics design and multimedia, shoe repair and making, candle making, dairy & farming, poultry, beekeeping, jute product making, packaging, mome nursing, housework, forestry & nursery etc.
