RANGPUR, Sept 21, 2020 
– Expatriate Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Imran Ahmed, MP, has said the government has taken initiatives to rehabilitate the returned expatriate workers socio-economically inside the country.
“For this purpose, the government has formed a credit fund of Taka 700 crore. The loan terms have been simplified and relaxed to provide loan facilities to more and more numbers of returned expatriate workers,” he said.
The minister said this while inaugurating a loan disbursement programme for returned expatriate workers affected during the COVID-19 pandemic through a zoom online conference organized by Expatriate Welfare Bank at Rangpur Deputy Commissioner’s Office as the chief guest this afternoon.
Presided over by Secretary to the ministry Ahmed Munirush Salehin, its Additional Secretary Md. Shahidul Alam, Expatriate Welfare Bank Chairman Begum Shamsun Nahar, Director General of Wage Earners Welfare Board Md. Hamidur Rahman, Rangpur Deputy Commissioner Md. Asib Ahsan, Rangpur city Awami League President Shafiur Rahman Shafi addressed the occasion.
Mohammad Mamun Miah spoke on behalf of the experiences and feelings of the cheques-recipient beneficiaries.
The minister said appropriate training programmes and certification initiatives have been taken for those returned expatriate workers who want to go abroad again and the government will bear the cost of certification toward the direction.
Mentioning that the helpless families of the deceased workers abroad have been brought under the rehabilitation credit programme, he said that it would be beneficial to take advantage of this loan after taking necessary training.
Ahmed Munirush Salehin said the global labour market is facing challenges due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic situation.
“The workers of Bangladesh have also been affected. The initiatives have been taken to provide loan assistance for their rehabilitation inside the country,” he said, and stressed on looking after the initiatives so that the targeted beneficiaries would get the benefits.