Special Correspondent :
The ban on public transport since March 26 has upended the lives of thousands of transport workers in the country as they have temporarily lost jobs due to the government’s sweeping measures to contain the coronavirus.
Thousands of transport workers went out of work amid nationwide shutdown enforced to contain the spread of coronavirus in the country.
According to sources, over 30 lakh transport workers and about two lakh people working in inland passenger vessel carriers are the worst sufferers of the countrywide shutdown.
Buses, trucks, and other vehicles have been kept off the road due to the government’s ban on transport services. As a result, the transport workers have been spending their days without income and many of them have no food at home, insiders said.
“We have gone work amid nationwide shutdown. It has led to a dramatic impact on our earnings,” said Anwar Hossain, a driver who runs a passenger bus in Mirpur to Motijheel route in Dhaka city.
He said, “We have to depend on income from our daily trips for survival. But the current situation has left us vulnerable and even many of us running out of foods.”
“We are facing extreme hardship and we will die if the bus owners and government do not extend help to us,” said Shohagh, a bus conductor.
He said that crores of taka have been collected in the name of wellbeing of the transport workers. But unfortunately, no owner or workers’ leaders have come forward to help the workers in this emergency situation
Transport workers say the Bangladesh Road Transport Workers’ Federation, that has 249 registered workers’ unions across the country, led by Former Minister MP Shajahan Khan, collects Tk 10 per trip per bus from
workers or Tk 70 to Tk 100 from every bus everyday.
Half of that amount collected is to be deposited in the welfare and health fund formed for transport workers.
MP Shajahan Khan could not be reached for comment.
However, when contacted, Osman Ali, General Secretary of Bangladesh Road Transport Workers’ Federation, said, “It is difficult for us to provide aid to transport workers on such a large scale.
“So we have sought government support in this regard and have sent letters to the Deputy Commissioners [DCs] across Bangladesh to include transport workers in the government safety net program.”
“We have requested them at least to allow transport workers to buy rice for Tk10/kg to ensure their survival. But we are yet to get any positive response from the government,” he added.
The federation lacks proper district-wise lists of transport workers who have been affected by the coronavirus outbreak which makes managing circumstances even more difficult.
Abul Kalam, President of the Bangladesh Road Transport Owners Association, Mohakhali terminal branch, said, “We have made a list of 5,492 drivers and helpers who work in this bus terminal to provide them Tk400 a day amid this crisis.
“We have already started distributing financial aid to transport workers here.”
The ban on public transport since March 26 has upended the lives of thousands of transport workers in the country as they have temporarily lost jobs due to the government’s sweeping measures to contain the coronavirus.
Thousands of transport workers went out of work amid nationwide shutdown enforced to contain the spread of coronavirus in the country.
According to sources, over 30 lakh transport workers and about two lakh people working in inland passenger vessel carriers are the worst sufferers of the countrywide shutdown.
Buses, trucks, and other vehicles have been kept off the road due to the government’s ban on transport services. As a result, the transport workers have been spending their days without income and many of them have no food at home, insiders said.
“We have gone work amid nationwide shutdown. It has led to a dramatic impact on our earnings,” said Anwar Hossain, a driver who runs a passenger bus in Mirpur to Motijheel route in Dhaka city.
He said, “We have to depend on income from our daily trips for survival. But the current situation has left us vulnerable and even many of us running out of foods.”
“We are facing extreme hardship and we will die if the bus owners and government do not extend help to us,” said Shohagh, a bus conductor.
He said that crores of taka have been collected in the name of wellbeing of the transport workers. But unfortunately, no owner or workers’ leaders have come forward to help the workers in this emergency situation
Transport workers say the Bangladesh Road Transport Workers’ Federation, that has 249 registered workers’ unions across the country, led by Former Minister MP Shajahan Khan, collects Tk 10 per trip per bus from
workers or Tk 70 to Tk 100 from every bus everyday.
Half of that amount collected is to be deposited in the welfare and health fund formed for transport workers.
MP Shajahan Khan could not be reached for comment.
However, when contacted, Osman Ali, General Secretary of Bangladesh Road Transport Workers’ Federation, said, “It is difficult for us to provide aid to transport workers on such a large scale.
“So we have sought government support in this regard and have sent letters to the Deputy Commissioners [DCs] across Bangladesh to include transport workers in the government safety net program.”
“We have requested them at least to allow transport workers to buy rice for Tk10/kg to ensure their survival. But we are yet to get any positive response from the government,” he added.
The federation lacks proper district-wise lists of transport workers who have been affected by the coronavirus outbreak which makes managing circumstances even more difficult.
Abul Kalam, President of the Bangladesh Road Transport Owners Association, Mohakhali terminal branch, said, “We have made a list of 5,492 drivers and helpers who work in this bus terminal to provide them Tk400 a day amid this crisis.
“We have already started distributing financial aid to transport workers here.”
