Anindita Mitra and Dr. Ratan Kumar Roy

Since Bangladesh is on the road to recovery from COVID 19-led economic crisis, paying special attention to inclusive growth remains to be a crucial concern. The government of Bangladesh has already planned to build a resilient economic recovery to emerge stronger from the pandemic halt. In this wake, the potential of Home-Based Workers (HBWs) can be acknowledged and maximized for the postpandemic economic rebuilding strategy. HBWs were severely affected by the onset of the pandemic and with the announcement of the nationwide lockdown on 22nd March 2020. Even though the government has already announced a comprehensive economic recovery program that includes various safety net schemes for social protection, many HBWs and communities failed to access the benefits.

According to the Labour Force Survey 2009-10, there were about two million home-based workers in Bangladesh among whom 80% were unregistered. According to another research done by Women in Informal Employment: Globalizing and Organizing (WIEGO) in 2016 and 2017, the number of homebased workers was 10,559,528. Comparing the data leads us to a conclusion that their numbers have grown significantly over the years. According to Asian Development Bank, the informal sector contributed 64% to the GDP of Bangladesh. Considering the growth of HBWs over the decade, it would be safe to assume that they continue to contribute significantly to the economy as they form a significant part of the informal sector. Sad but true, in the domain of economic policymaking, still there is a dearth of understanding about the HBWs and their role in the emerging economy of the country.

According to WIEGO, home-based workers are defined as a) own-account workers and contributing family workers helping the own-account workers, involved in the production of goods and services, in their homes, for the market, and b) workers carrying out work in their homes for remuneration, resulting in a product or service as specified by the employer(s), irrespective of who provides the equipment, materials or other inputs used, and those contributing family workers helping such workers. Agriculture, pottery, independent work of women in woolen or tailoring, sewerage, rag pickers, and a long list of works that provide our population independent cash inflow are included in the list of home-based work. Many formal sectors but independent works are included in the list of home-based works.

The history goes back to the ancient period as the homebased works can be traced significantly in the culture and civilization of Bengal. The Indus people were greatly reliant on trade. Some goods that were traded were terracotta pots, beads, gold, silver, colored gems like turquoise and lapis lazuli, metals, flints, seashells, and pearls. The same type of activities is also noticed in Maury Empire, and many patterns of terracotta pots, silver, gold, metals were discovered which are available in Mahasthangarh, Bogura, Bangladesh. And, the waivers continued to sustain their trade from home since various colonial rulers came and go. The contribution of home-based works, both at the level of individual and community, continues to be vital for sustainable economic growth.

At present, two types of home-based workers can be found in our society, self-employed home-based workers and sub-contracted home-based workers. Selfassume-employed home-based workers take all the risks of being independent operators. They take care of their own raw materials, supplies, and equipment and pay utility and transport costs on their own. Their goods and services are usually available in the local market but in some cases, they manage to sell in the international markets too. Most of them do not prefer to hire others but mostly they have unpaid contributing family members working with them. Potters of the Gazipur cluster can be a great example of this. For a long time, they are working in the business of pottery and most of them inherited the knowledge of this craft from their previous generation. family members working with them. Potters of the Gazipur cluster can be a great example of this. For a long time, they are working in the business of pottery and most of them inherited the knowledge of this craft from their previous generation.

Sub-contracted home-based workers who are also known as homeworkers or industrial outworkers are the ones contracted by individual entrepreneurs, factories, or firms, often through an intermediary. Often firms outsource work to those who work in their own homes to cut costs and maximize profits. Most of the time, the workers do not even have any idea about the firm they are working for or where the goods will be sold. Typically, they are paid by the amount of piece of product and do not sell the finished products themselves. While home workers might be given the raw materials to work on, they have to cover many costs of production: workplace, equipment, electricity, and supplies. Jamdani waivers, waivers of Nokshi Katha are ideal examples.

To help the SMEs which include HBWs in Bangladesh, several measures were taken using domestic resources and with international support. The government announced a stimulus package of approximately USD 9 bln that involved the infusion of additional capital into the cash-ridden micro and small enterprises. The Asian Infrastructure and Investment Bank announced a USD 100 bln package to support the government. However, the benefits promised within this package did not reach a large section of the informal economy.

Bangladesh Bank along with the SME Foundation came up with a cluster-financing model. A clustercum-area wise list of disbursement of funds was maintained which reflected the benefits received by many tanneries and light engineering projects. However, many SMEs could not access the liquidity provided by the banks, and the major drawback was the lack of documentation. The loans were offered on the surplus of working capital of the institutions which could be established through sales reports and cash flow documents. Unable to establish their credibility, many of the small and cottage businesses could not receive support from the government.

According to research done by WEIGO, 35.43% of the workers work independently in Bangladesh. Bangladesh Bank and SME Foundation of Bangladesh have an independent list of clusters where this informal workers could be found in Bangladesh. While Bangladesh Bank has divided them into six clusters, Bangladesh Bank or SME Foundation or both? While the initiative of making the clusters for identifying and categorizing the informal workers is commendable, we must acknowledge that many individuals and groups remain left out unrecognized and unlisted.

The traditional, home-based and sustainable businesses form the very fabric of the Bengali identity and economy. Ensuring their viability and survival is crucial for inclusive growth. Therefore, understanding the works of these institutions is prime, which calls for further research and study of these institutions and the impact of government policies regarding them. It is imperative to note that the success of a broad-based strategy for inclusive growth and rapid recovery from pandemics to accelerate sustainable development will depend on the availability and systematic analysis of the ground-level data. We hope to see organized efforts to identify the challenges faced by the HBWs in Bangladesh and address the issues they face in the real ground.

Anindita Mitra and Dr. Ratan Kumar Roy are associated with the International Research Center, SIMEC Institute of Technology, Dhaka, Bangladesh. Available at: research. simecinsitute.edu.bd