Bidi Workers Union forms human chain and submits memorandum on five-point demands

The Greater Rangpur Region Bidi Workers Union has held a human chain program with five demands, including not increasing the duty on the bidi industry in this year's budget and increasing the price of low-grade cigarettes. They held the human chain program in front of the Rangpur Deputy Commissioner's office on Wednesday (May 6) morning. After the human chain, the workers submitted a memorandum containing five demands to the Prime Minister through Rangpur Deputy Commissioner Mohammad Ruhul Amin. Other demands of the workers include increasing the working day of bidi workers, making it mandatory to hoist bandrolls only if the...

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The Greater Rangpur Region Bidi Workers Union has held a human chain program with five demands, including not increasing the duty on the bidi industry in this year’s budget and increasing the price of low-grade cigarettes. They held the human chain program in front of the Rangpur Deputy Commissioner’s office on Wednesday (May 6) morning. After the human chain, the workers submitted a memorandum containing five demands to the Prime Minister through Rangpur Deputy Commissioner Mohammad Ruhul Amin.
Other demands of the workers include increasing the working day of bidi workers, making it mandatory to hoist bandrolls only if the bidi factory has a license, and stopping the production and sale of fake bidis.
The speakers in the human chain said that bidi is a domestic labor-dependent industry. 1.8 million underprivileged workers earn their living by working in bidi factories across the country, including the greater Rangpur region. But the previous fascist government gave various facilities to foreign cigarette companies to destroy this industry. As a result, bidi owners who provide real revenue are being forced to close numerous factories. Currently, low-grade cigarettes occupy 80 percent of the country’s tobacco market. Therefore, we strongly demand an increase in the price of low-grade cigarettes to protect the existence of the bidi industry. In addition, fake bidis have become a stranglehold on the bidi industry that has survived amidst various adversities. The government is losing a huge amount of revenue on fake bidis and the real revenue-generating bidi owners are suffering. Therefore, if we want to make the country’s economy prosperous, we must take necessary measures to stop the production and sale of fake bidis. At the same time, it must be made mandatory to hoist the bandroll only if the bidi factory has a license.
At that time, under the leadership of Abul Hasnat Lablu, General Secretary of the Greater Rangpur Region Bidi Workers Union, the human chain was chaired by the organization’s President Amin Uddin BSC, and the General Secretary of the Bangladesh Bidi Workers Federation Harik Hossain, Vice President Md. Nazim Uddin, Anwar Hossain, Joint Secretary Abdul Gafur, Organizing Secretary Shamim Islam, etc. spoke.