Rangpur Correspondent :
Hide traders in Rangpur district are apprehensive about running their business as they are facing severe financial crisis.
According to sources , hide traders of the district are yet to recover a large amount of dues from the tannery owners of Dhaka as a result their business is seriously being hampered.
Due to capital shortage, a good number of traders of hide have to relinquish their business and consequently thousands of workers engaged in this trade became unemployed.
Leaders of District Hide Traders’ Association of Rangpur said, there were more than 200 hide traders in the district and out of them 150 traders have left already their business and others are passing tough days.
They also alleged that the tannery owners and wholesalers of Dhaka and Natore do not pay them arrears timely which hinder their business a lot. More than Tk 400 million dues is yet to be recovered from them.
On the other hand, there is no easy bank loan facility available for their business, so they are in acute financial problem, they further alleged.
Rezaul Islam (50), a former hide trader of Rangpur sadar told The New Nation that he had been running his business for 20 years but he never received any loan from bank. Moreover, about Tk 30 lakh of arrears which he failed to recover from the tannery owners of Dhaka. Finding no other way he was compelled to abandon the business.
President of district hide traders association Rangpur Abdul Latif Khan said they have to borrow the required money for their business at high rates of interest owing to absence of bank loan. Moreover, many hide traders have lost their eagerness in this business on account of uncertainty in recovering dues.
If they fail to recover the due money before upcoming Eid-ul-Azha the traders will have to incur a huge loss and consequently syndicate of smugglers will take advantage of the circumstances. As a result a huge quantity of hides will be smuggled into the neighbouring countries, he apprehended.
Muktijoddha Sangsad sets unique example in Rangpur:
Rangpur district unit command of Bangladesh Muktijoddha Sangsad (BMS) has set a unique example of extending financial assistance to the poor, distressed and ailing freedom fighters (FFs) from its own resources.
“We have started distributing allowances among the poor, distressed and ailing FFs after every three months for the first time in the country from earnings of District Muktijoddha Complex (DMC),” district unit commander of BMS Mosaddek Hossain Bablu told BSS.
The allowances and grants will be distributed from the income of the DMC among increased number of the poor, distressed and ailing FFs after every three months from now to ensure their welfare, he added.
Under the initiative, Taka 8.23 lakh was already distributed among 400 poor, distressed and ailing FFs last week from the income earned by district unit of BMS from its DMC at a ceremony arranged at the Complex Bhaban in the city.
Cheque of Taka 2,000 as allowance was distributed among each of the 399 poor, distressed and ailing FFs while a cheque of Taka 25,000 was given as grant to an ailing FF suffering from deadly disease of cancer in the ceremony.
Deputy Commissioner Farid Ahammad attended the ceremony as the chief guest and distributed the cheques among the FFs with district unit Commander of BMS Mosaddek Hossain Bablu in the chair.
