Low-income people in Bogura in anxiety: ‘Will I buy rice, or put money in the meter?’

Saju Hossain, a resident of Fultala area of Bogura metropolis, said, “There has been no work for several days. Sometimes there is rice at home, sometimes not. There is no money in hand either. The price of rice is rising, the price of gas is rising. The electricity bill comes to a lot of money. The household does not run with what I earn in a month. On some days the income is such that, will I buy rice or put money in the meter? I am running the household somehow by taking loans.”

By profession he is a carpenter. If he gets regular work, his income is about Tk 12,000 a month. Saju’s family consists of his wife and two children.

Saju Hossain said that currently the market expenses have increased a lot. Beef can almost be said to have been dropped from the food list. He has even forgotten the taste of hilsa fish. The cost of everything has increased. If it continues like this, one day he will have to sell the house and go to live in some village.

This is not only Saju’s story. Currently the same calculation is there in the households of low-income people from the city to the village. Income is low, day labour work is also irregular. Yet the cost has increased in almost every sector including food, fuel, electricity and transport. As a result, there is no opportunity for savings in the households of low-income people; rather, loans have to be taken to meet essential expenses.

Nirmal Shil, a barber of Banani area of Bogura metropolis, said, “There has been no work like before for about five months. Earlier I used to cut the hair and beard of 30 to 40 people a day. Now even if many people’s hair has grown long, they do not come easily to get it cut. Yet earlier they used to get their hair and beard cut from time to time. Seeing these things it can be understood that money in people’s hands has decreased.”

Conversations were held with several tea stall owners of Bogura metropolis.

They said that they cannot increase the price of tea. They are still selling each cup of red tea at Tk 5 and milk tea at Tk 10. Yet the prices of gas, firewood and electricity have increased. They have to meet the necessary household expenses including rice and lentils with the income from selling tea. But customers become angry if the talk of increasing the price of tea is raised.

They further said that people’s financial crisis is now so acute that customers do not want to accept even a slight price increase easily. However, many shopkeepers have increased the price of tea. Customers have also decreased in those places compared to before.

Ranju Hossain, a resident of Shibganj upazila of Bogura, said that traders have increased the price of LP gas. Currently a 12-kg gas cylinder is being sold at various shops for Tk 2,000 to Tk 2,200. Where one has to struggle to meet the household running costs, the continuous increase in the prices of one product after another has made the situation even more difficult.

He further said, “The price of everything is continuously rising. I cannot understand at all how I will manage. I work in a private organisation. The household does not run with the salary, and if I leave the job, work will not be easily available.”

Day labourer Babu Mia, a resident of Fultala area of Bogura metropolis, said that the cost of living is rising faster than income. If the prices of essential commodities are not brought under control, low-income people will have to spend days without proper meals.