Special Correspondent :
Thousands of rickshaw pullers in the capital city of the country have been going through a very harsh time due to the nationwide lockdown enforced by the government to repel the Covid-19 outbreak in Bangladesh.
The streets of the capital remain largely empty due to the lockdown which remarkably declined the earnings of the rickshaw pullers.
Nabir, a rickshaw puller, said, the lockdown has hit him hard and he is now struggling to earn his family’s livelihood.
“My home town is Kurigram. But I have been living here for the last 12 years. Nevertheless the worst time of my life has appeared as the city streets are almost deserted. I have a very small income to speak candidly. Rickshaw pullers are hardly allowed to ply on the city roads since the imposition of the lockdown,” he said.
When asked, Nabir, who maintains a four-member family, said that he approached for relief from city corporation but in vain.
“We have, as such, no second option than looking for passengers. This is our only source of income…We have to feed our kids and to pay house rent and utility bills,” he said, adding, “The government should provide us
food and cash assistance during this emergency situation, otherwise, we will face dire consequences.”
Kalam, 25, who lives in Dhaka’s Mugda area, said, he came out on the streets with his rickshaw at around 2pm but found few passengers. “I earned only Tk 150 from carrying three passengers. I will have to pay Tk100 as rent to the owner of the rickshaw. I have to buy food to feed my family but how can I manage if I do not have more passengers.”
He said: “I cannot even go back home as there is no source of earning. Now survival is becoming very difficult in the city unless I get assistance from the government. The government has allocated a special budget and relief for poor people like us. I am yet to receive any help from the authorities concerned.
Rickshaw puller, Monir, 36, who was searching for passengers in the Dhaka’s Gopibagh area, on Wednesday afternoon said: “Earlier I used to earn Tk 800 to Tk 1000 on a normal day. But I couldn’t even earn cumulatively Tk 500 in the last seven days.”
Rickshaw is the most popular and widely used transport throughout Bangladesh. In Dhaka city, 60 per cent of the residents depend on rickshaw as transports.
In the capital, the actual number of rickshaws might be 1.1 million, according to various studies.
All rickshaw pullers of Dhaka city migrated from rural areas. Majority of them live in Dhaka without family and visit family members as and when it is necessary. So, the sudden fall in their income due to ongoing shutdown in the city also badly affected their livelihood.
Another rickshaw puller, Amir Hossain, 58, who was sitting on his rickshaw on a desolate and quiet road in the city’s Motijheel commercial area at around 5pm said that he knew that the number of the passengers would not be much earn to feed his family, yet I have to work hard.
“Usually, I earn Tk 700 to Tk 800 every day. But I had not earned even fifty per cent of the income in the past four days.”
When asked, Amir Hossain who lives in a slum in the city’s Kamrangirchar area said, “I have heard that the government was giving relief to the poor. But I do not like to get any relief without giving labour. Income without labour is shocking to me.”
