Tens of thousands of workers and officials have lost their jobs over the last six months following the closure of dozens of mills and factories mainly because of the owners' political affiliations.

Bangladesh Institute of Labour Studies (BILS) recorded 501 incidents related to layoffs, closures, and protests for wage hikes or back pay in 25 industrial and manufacturing sectors last year.

These incidents, most of which took place after the political changeover in August, include 305 incidents in the garment sector at Ashulia, Savar, Rupganj and Gazipur. Of the garment sector incidents, 85 were related to layoffs, 95 were closures of factories without prior notice, and 125 were protests over back pay.

The layoffs in 16 textile and garment units of Beximco Group in Gazipur in December affected the largest number of workers -- 40,000. The company cited insufficient orders from international clothing retailers as a reason behind the decision to shut the factories. The Beximco's textile and garment factories exported $339 million worth of garment items last year.

The company, however, couldn't secure a bailout. Banks curbed finances owing to a huge amount of default loans, alleged to have been taken by the group using the influence of its Vice Chairman Salman F Rahman, who was an adviser to deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina. Salman is now behind bars.

Another major incident was the burning and looting of Gazi Group's tyre factory and warehouse in Narayanganj's Rupganj last August. Its owner Golam Dastagir Gazi was a minister in Hasina's cabinet.

Three more Gazi Group factories in Rupganj were also looted. All these firms were profitable and made regular payments to the workers. The closures of the Gazi Group factories led to the sudden joblessness of around 8,000 workers, according to officials of the company.

Muhammad Fakhrul Islam, executive director (finance) of Gazi Group, claimed the burning of the tyre factory and warehouse caused the company a damage of Tk 1,100 crore while attacks on Gazi Tank and Gazi Pipe factories led to a Tk 1,000 crore loss.

"We are trying to run our factories and have written to the government for financial assistance. We are hopeful in this regard," Fakhrul told The Daily Star.

Anwar Hossain, administrator of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), said many factories were closed and some of them later reopened, but he did not have exact data on how many workers were laid off or terminated, and how many factories were shut.

Labour and Employment Secretary AHM Shafiquzzaman also could not provide accurate data on factory closures leading to joblessness of workers after the ouster of the AL government.

Amirul Haque Amin, president of the National Garment Workers Federation (NGWF), said nearly 70 factories, including those of Beximco and Gazi, have been shut since the August political changeover, leading to the joblessness of around one lakh workers and officials.

In the case of Beximco, the government could have formed a committee involving the buyers and union leaders so these units could remain open and repay the loans of the group, he said.

After the Tazreen Fashions fire and Rana Plaza building collapse, several committees were formed with the union leaders, clothing brands, and factory owners to resolve the crises, and solutions were found after discussions.

Nazma Akter, president of Sammilito Garment Sramik Federation, said it was difficult to keep Beximco factories open because of the loans, though the RMG units were performing well.

However, the clothing retailers and brands that used to source from Beximco should come forward to support the laid-off workers.

Khalid Shahrior, head of human resources and compliance for the Textile and Garment Division of Beximco Group, said the group sought help from the government to resume operation of the textile and garment units.

He said the group sent letters to Bangladesh Bank, the finance ministry and the labour ministry, requesting banking support for running the units.

Syed Sultan Uddin Ahmed, chief of the interim government's Labour Reform Commission and former executive director of the BILS, said closure is never a solution to any problem.

He alleged the layoff of Beximco workers was not done lawfully. Also, the workers were being arrested on charges related to violence during protests.

The business should have been kept out of politics, he said.

Supreme Court lawyer Jafrul Hasan Sharif also said workers of some garment factories were not laid off following the law, and the Beximco units should have continued their operations by selling the group's properties.

Labour Secretary Shafiquzzaman said the government cannot run garment factories with taxpayers' money.

He also said that the ministry has mediated the settlement of payment in at least five incidents related to garment factories which were closed and workers were laid off.

The rate of RMG workers migrating within the country is around 6 percent every month. This means that the retrenched workers would gradually be employed by the factories that are still in operation, he added.

The ready-made garment industry of Bangladesh employs around 4 million people, according to government estimates.

Khondaker Golam Moazzem, research director of Centre for Policy Dialogue, said it is not the government's job to run factories. The government can only support them for a certain period.

"Unfortunately, in Bangladesh, the companies and employees fall in trouble together in case of any problem at the top level of the enterprises," Moazzem said.

At a press conference last week, Labour Adviser Brig Gen (retd) M Sakhawat Hussain said that the government doesn't think it is feasible to reopen the Beximco units, considering the sheer volume of its debt.

Beximco Group's total bank loan stood at over Tk 40,000 crore, including Tk 29,925 crore taken against 32 factories in Beximco Industrial Park, where the 16 closed units were situated, he said.

"Of those 32 factories, 16 exist only on paper. But these factories were used [as collateral] to take loans."