Dhaka, May 3 -- Exploitation of the workforce by employers, who pay little attention towards securing the workers' livelihoods, remains the issue that demands the attention of the government of Bangladesh.

This is very much true for the workforce employed in the leather industry, the country's second-largest export sector after the readymade garments sector. As per sources in Bangladesh Tanners Association (BTA), there are around 200 tanneries in the country. One hundred twenty-seven of them are based in the tannery industrial area of Savar in Dhaka.

Generally, tannery workers work throughout the week for long hours. The worrying trend is that issues like working for long hours and non-payment of basic wages etcetera, have become the no...