High prices, unabated inflation, and the recent flooding in some northern districts have kept most of the poor and day-labourers of the country from required Eid shopping.
With Ramadan nearing its end, Eid shopping is gaining momentum across the country. But, while shopping malls and markets are being thronged by the well-off, a large section of the poor in rural areas appear to be inclined towards buying cheap, low-quality goods or refraining from shopping at all this time due to the exorbitant prices, report New Age district correspondents.
A number of shoppers said high prices had pushed a great many items beyond their purchasing capacity and they were compelled to confine themselves to just window shopping.
According to shop owners, unlike the Eid business seasons in the past, most people this time just walk in, look around, ask about the prices, and then depart in silence.
'The prices of most clothes and footwear have almost doubled over the past two years, putting those beyond the reach of the prospective buyers among the poor people,' said Monirul Islam, a shop
owner of Chapainawabganj.
Shirts that were sold at Tk 120 last year, now cost Tk 200 apiece, said Jamil Hossain, selling shirts at a makeshift shop on Ganakpara footpath at Shaheb Bazar in downtown Rajshahi.
The prices of basic food items have shot up so high that the poor are left with no choice but to dropping several items from their shopping list for Eid.
Inflation, which had been double-digit for five months since March, hit a three-year high of 10.96 per cent in July, far above the government's target of 7.5 per cent, according to the data released on August 18 by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics.
Thousands of people in Satkhira and Lalmonirhat, devastated by flood and river erosion, are not even able to buy vermicelli and sugar to prepare a dish of shemai, let alone new dresses.
The people of the flood- and erosion-hit Teesta and Dharla river basin areas, who have lost their shelters, crops, and domestic animals, cannot afford to buy any thing beyond the bare essentials under their present circumstances, they told New Age.
New Age correspondent in Rajshahi reports that the low-income, poor, and ultra-poor people in Rajshahi city are passing a hard time, with their sense of misery heightened by the inability to procure new clothes and good food for the Eid.
Shariful Islam, a rickshaw-puller from Natore who lives in Asam Colony, told New Age, 'I feel awful as I cannot buy new clothes for my three kids even on the occasion of the Eid.'
New Age correspondent in Lalmonirhat writes: About two lakh people, affected by flood and river erosion in Sadar, Aditmari, Kaliganj, and Hatibandha upazilas, are unable to buy even vermicelli and sugar to prepare shemai, the traditional Eid dish.
A good number of them have been hoping for some support from the government and non-governmental organisations so that they could buy some vermicelli, powdered milk, and sugar for observing the Eid.
'We have to fight on a daily basis to have something to eat. We have no money to spare for Eid celebrations,' said Sajedur Rahman, 55, a farmer of the flood-hit Sindurna village under Hatibandha upazila.
Afzal Hossain, 68, a Teesta river erosion-hit farmer of Balapara village of Mohishkhocha union under Aditmari upazila, said, 'I have lost every thing to the Teesta river erosion. Now I have no place to live with my family. The Eid does not bring us any joy.'
A flood-affected Hasina Banu, 38, of Dawabari village under Hatibandha upazila said his husband, Mazibor Rahman, is a farmer who cannot find any alternative job in the village. They cultivated aman in eight bighas of land but all the aman fields have been damaged in the recent flood, making them bereft of livelihood. 'So, Eid celebrations are not meant for us,' she said.
Hamidur Rahman, 47, another farmer of the village, said, 'I have two sons and two daughters but we have not been able to buy any dress for them till now. We also have not purchased any vermicelli and sugar for the Eid as we are totally bankrupt. We, the flood-affected people of this village, are waiting for some government help.'
New Age correspondent in Jhenaidah reports that the Eid failed to bring happiness for the poor and the people of low-income group of the district.
Tipu Sultan of Mollakua village under Kaliganj upazila said he used to earn Tk 250 to 280 a day by working as a farm labourer. But, he has not found any job in the past few days. He will buy a shirt for his son-in-law and a sari for his daughter and that is all. His will not buy any clothe for his school-going son due to financial constraints.
Amjad Hossain, a rickshaw-van-puller, said he would purchase a shirt for the younger of his two kids, a four-year-old son, and a sari for his mother but nothing for his wife, his other child, and himself.
New Age correspondent in Moulvibazar writes: The low-income people like day-labourers, marginal farmers, and hawkers are becoming more and more worried as the Eid is nearing.
Noor Ali, a day-labourer of Barhat area in Moulvibazar town, said due to the price spiral of essential commodities and his poor income, it had become really hard for him even to arrange the bare minimum food for his family. He cannot even think of buying new clothes for his family members on the occasion of the Eid, Noor added.
New Age correspondent in Patuakhali reports that Sufia Begum, a widow of 60, who runs a family of seven by selling chatpati in Patuakhali town, said, 'I am yet to find the money for buying some gifts for my grandchildren while the Eid is knocking at the door.'
Jamal Sarder, a hawker, who lives in Kalatala Slum and runs his 6-member family by selling toys, said, 'I make a net profit of Tk 200 to 250 a day on average, which is not enough as my two children go to school. How can I think of buying new clothes for my family members at such high prices?'
Source : New Age
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