Chittagong Bureau :
The air of the Khalifa Patti in Ghatfarhadbeg under Kotwali thana in city is filled with as the tailors the clunking sound of sewing machines there are round the clock busy making expensive attractive colourful female and children dresses ahead of Eid-ul- Fitr.
They are making these expensive dresses as per order the shop owners of the posh markets of the city by paying cheap wages. But the story of their lives is not as colourful as the dresses they are stitching for the Eid. For these tailors, Eid is the harbinger of debts.
Md Solaiman from Noakhali’s Begumganj, who has been working here for 20 years, doesn’t know whether he will have enough money to buy new dresses for his children after paying the fare to return home and after footing the expenses for essentials.
Solaiman said only a few of them get monthly salary, very low though, while the others are paid on the basis of the volum of productions.
They don’t even get overtime or bonus for working most of the time when they are awake during the Eid season. “I get only Tk 400 for sewing a dozen of frocks. Moreover, my income dropped last month as I failed to meet deadlines due to power cuts,” Solaiman said.
“I’ll have to buy vermicelli and sugar even if I fail to buy new dresses for my wife and children. I just don’t understand how I shall do it!” he said.
“A tailor is bound to work for his employer after taking pay in advance. The employers take advantage of this and pay less,” tailor Md Ismail said.Khalifa Patti Traders Welfare Association General Secretary Md Humayun Kabir said, “We could pay the workers more if our income increased.
He blamed power crisis and competition in the market for ‘less’ profit.
The air of the Khalifa Patti in Ghatfarhadbeg under Kotwali thana in city is filled with as the tailors the clunking sound of sewing machines there are round the clock busy making expensive attractive colourful female and children dresses ahead of Eid-ul- Fitr.
They are making these expensive dresses as per order the shop owners of the posh markets of the city by paying cheap wages. But the story of their lives is not as colourful as the dresses they are stitching for the Eid. For these tailors, Eid is the harbinger of debts.
Md Solaiman from Noakhali’s Begumganj, who has been working here for 20 years, doesn’t know whether he will have enough money to buy new dresses for his children after paying the fare to return home and after footing the expenses for essentials.
Solaiman said only a few of them get monthly salary, very low though, while the others are paid on the basis of the volum of productions.
They don’t even get overtime or bonus for working most of the time when they are awake during the Eid season. “I get only Tk 400 for sewing a dozen of frocks. Moreover, my income dropped last month as I failed to meet deadlines due to power cuts,” Solaiman said.
“I’ll have to buy vermicelli and sugar even if I fail to buy new dresses for my wife and children. I just don’t understand how I shall do it!” he said.
“A tailor is bound to work for his employer after taking pay in advance. The employers take advantage of this and pay less,” tailor Md Ismail said.Khalifa Patti Traders Welfare Association General Secretary Md Humayun Kabir said, “We could pay the workers more if our income increased.
He blamed power crisis and competition in the market for ‘less’ profit.
