Jamaat's pledge to cut women's work-hour is nothing but 'political slogan': Labour adviser

Labour and Employment Adviser Brig Gen (retd) Dr Md Sakhawat Hossain said Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami's pledge to reduce women's daily working hours from eight to five is nothing more than a political slogan.

He made the remark today (8 December) while responding to a question at a press briefing at the Secretariat held to highlight the achievements of the Labour and Employment Ministry in the last one year.

Jamaat Ameer Dr Shafiqur Rahman recently said at a programme that if his party came to power, it would reduce the working hours of employed women to five hours.

The adviser said, "I see it as a political slogan. 'If they come to power' is one of the big factors in the pledge. They will be in power if you vote for them. Now if women workers vote for them believing this, I have nothing to say."

He also said, "Those who get elected and sit in these chairs will no longer remain field-level people. They will have to face the realities."

Sakhawat Hossain said, "Before elections you hear all sorts of slogans, if we come to power, the Buriganga will turn into a river of milk, manna and salwa will fall from the sky, you won't need to work, we will feed you."

Calling it a clear political slogan, he said, "When you're not in power, you can say anything. I can also promise to feed you biryani every day if you come here. But when you actually arrive, I can say there's no fund. You know it, and I know it. Every political party comes up with new slogans."

The adviser further said, "I don't think anyone took the Jamaat Ameer's comment seriously except journalists. That's my impression. They may even curse me after this."

During the briefing, the adviser also highlighted the Labour and Employment Ministry's activities over the past year.