Business Desk :
Ashraful Islam sells pants in front of Tejgaon College at Farmgate in the capital. He used to earn Tk2,000 daily before the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, but now his income has shrunk to Tk800.
“After the shutdown was lifted, I returned to Dhaka, borrowing some money again. Now, though I have resumed my old business, I am passing through a very hard time – often I do not have the money I need to meet my needs,” he said.
Many small and medium-sized enterprise entrepreneurs have been trying hard to get their businesses back on track ever since the withdrawal of the Covid-induced shutdown on 31 May. But, the pandemic has brought about a radical change to ordinary people’s spending habits. Economists said requirements of common people have changed a lot amid the pandemic. People now do not spend much on various products, save the daily essentials.
Although various sectors of the country’s trade and commerce are now on their way to recovery, thousands of hawkers in the capital have yet to overcome the huge losses inflicted by the pandemic.
Economists said the pandemic experience has made the country’s people aware of the importance of saving. And roadside hawkers are one of the sectors bearing the brunt of this change in spending habits of the people.
The government has no accurate information about the number of hawkers in the country.
However, according to a report called, “Urban Situation 2018: From the Perspective of Traffic Congestion in Dhaka Metropolis,” published by the Institute of Governance and Development (BIGD) of non-governmental organisation BRAC, there are more than 2,50,000 hawkers in Dhaka.
According to different hawkers’ associations, there are 2,60,000 hawkers in the capital. Of them, 1,50,000 hawkers run their businesses on footpaths while 25,000 run them along roads and 25,000 of them are seasonal workers.
There is no available information about the total number of hawkers in the country. Some say there are more than 10 million hawkers.
Ashraful Islam sells pants in front of Tejgaon College at Farmgate in the capital. He used to earn Tk2,000 daily before the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, but now his income has shrunk to Tk800.
“After the shutdown was lifted, I returned to Dhaka, borrowing some money again. Now, though I have resumed my old business, I am passing through a very hard time – often I do not have the money I need to meet my needs,” he said.
Many small and medium-sized enterprise entrepreneurs have been trying hard to get their businesses back on track ever since the withdrawal of the Covid-induced shutdown on 31 May. But, the pandemic has brought about a radical change to ordinary people’s spending habits. Economists said requirements of common people have changed a lot amid the pandemic. People now do not spend much on various products, save the daily essentials.
Although various sectors of the country’s trade and commerce are now on their way to recovery, thousands of hawkers in the capital have yet to overcome the huge losses inflicted by the pandemic.
Economists said the pandemic experience has made the country’s people aware of the importance of saving. And roadside hawkers are one of the sectors bearing the brunt of this change in spending habits of the people.
The government has no accurate information about the number of hawkers in the country.
However, according to a report called, “Urban Situation 2018: From the Perspective of Traffic Congestion in Dhaka Metropolis,” published by the Institute of Governance and Development (BIGD) of non-governmental organisation BRAC, there are more than 2,50,000 hawkers in Dhaka.
According to different hawkers’ associations, there are 2,60,000 hawkers in the capital. Of them, 1,50,000 hawkers run their businesses on footpaths while 25,000 run them along roads and 25,000 of them are seasonal workers.
There is no available information about the total number of hawkers in the country. Some say there are more than 10 million hawkers.
