Those toiling men
Md. Khairul Alam Sher-e-Bangla Agriculture University
On October 14, 2004, we came across the news. "WB (World Bank) keen to help 160,000 affected rickshaw-pullers," which was published in The Daily Star. That news reminded us the history of commonly seen non-motorised three wheelers in our country, especially in Dhaka city. Though it is found on all the roads of towns and cities, Dhaka, one of the ancient cities in our Indian subcontinent, is very closely correlated with the rickshaw. This vehicle helps earn the means of living to about 4 lakhs rickshaw pullers along with their family members. It has been used by the people of all spheres of society since its invention. The rickshaw off-limit programme enforced by DTCB (Dhaka Transport Co-ordination Board), has brought miseries to the pullers. We know some of them have come to Dhaka for either losing their ways to survive in the villages or being cursed by the rivers of their locality. Only for the purpose of existence, they have thronged the capital city, demanding two meals a day which are also not secure at present. The Traffic Weak observed from Oct. 9, 2004 to Oct. 15, 2004 did not promise anything . We are watching an even more disgusting traffic jam in the city these days. In these circumstances, the only silver lining here is the offer given by the WB. I fully appreciate the initiative taken by the WB with the hope that it will be implemented smoothly. The task of finding the affected rickshaw pullers is not an easy one, but the government must make sure that only the victims get compensation .
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. PHOTO: Syed Zakir Hossain |
