Business Desk :
Bidi workers staged demonstrations, road blockades and human chain across the country to press home their eight-point demand that includes duty reduction and wage increment. Thousands of the workers joined the protests organized by Bangladesh Bidi Workers Federation on Wednesday at 11am. They formed human chain and blocked road in front of the houses of the finance minister and NBR chairman in Cumilla and Narsingdi, says a media release.
To protest increased supplementary duty in proposed budget for the fiscal year 2019-20, human chains were formed at hundred plus points throughout the country including Barisal, Mollarhat of Bagerhat, Navaron-Satkhira road in Jashore, Mymensingh-bypass, Sherpur bus stand, Tangail-Dhaka bypass road, KishoreganjBarapul, BhairabDurjoyMor in Brahmanbaria, Manikganj, Sirajganj SS Road, BograFutki Bazar, Rangpur Highway, and Pabna.
Workers voiced their 8-point demand that includes (1) lowering low-end Bidi price to Tk 10 from Tk 14, (2) cutting supplementary duty to Tk 14 for every thousand Bidi following India, (3) the supplementary duty must be increased on low-end and expensive cigarettes, (4) Advance income tax on Bidi must be revoked, (5) Bidi industry should immediately be declared as “Cottage Industry” following the policy of Bangabandhu, (6) integreted taxation for both the lower and middle end cigarettes, (7) price and supplementary duty of high-end cigarettes will have to be increased and (8) The minimum wage for the workers should beTk 100 for every thousand Bidi.
Speakers at the human chains said, “In the proposed budget for the fiscal year 2019-2020, illogical duty has been imposed on Bidi which is four times the duty on the low-end cigarettes. Bidi’s duty has been increased by 24.2 percent while the duty on the low-cost cigarettes has been hiked only by 5.71 percent.
