Footpath vendors forced to pay Tk 850cr a year

Around Tk 850 crore is extorted from hawkers every year, mostly by police to be followed by criminals, city corporation officials and political party cadres, claimed hawker leaders yesterday.
“There are over 5 lakh hawkers in the country and each of them on an average pays Tk 50 every day to linemen, who are private agents of extortionists,” MA Kashem, president of Bangladesh Hawkers Federation (BHF), told a press conference at the Paltan office of Bangladesh Photojournalists' Association in the capital.
Talking to The Daily Star, Rafiqul Islam, general secretary of Jatiya Hawkers Federation, said small stalls and minor vendors have to pay Tk 50 daily, while the bigger ones as much as Tk 400.
The rates vary depending on the location of stalls. Hawkers trading along busy streets buzzing with commuters have to pay more, he added.
For instance, those willing to sell their items in Phulbaria of Gulistan would have to pay at least Tk 200.  
This extortion money ends up as extra costs for the customers as they have to bear higher prices for hawkers' items.
Wishing anonymity, a tea stall owner in Motijheel Shapla Chattar area yesterday said he pays Tk 100 daily to a lineman from his sale of around Tk 800. By selling around 130 cups of tea, he makes a profit of around Tk 300.
To earn the extortion money, he has to sell a cup of tea at Tk 6, which he could have sold at Tk 5. He thought that the lesser price of tea would have hiked his sales.
If the hawkers are unable to pay the extortion money, they are tortured, and their makeshift stalls and goods are damaged.
On October 6 last year, hawker Jahangir Alam near Gulistan Phulbaria Super Market could not pay extortionists for 10 days. Thereupon boiling water was poured on him by Jubo League activist Kalu Miah, who used to extort Jahangir Tk 150 daily, according to a report run by this newspaper.
BHF president MA Kashem said they would agree to pay a fee for allowing them to continue trading along the streets. “However, we want the fee to be collected by the government and used for the benefit of the people employed in this profession,” he added.
The government could use this fee for the rehabilitation of floating hawkers, he suggested, demanding that the government prepare a national policy on hawkers' rehabilitation.
On March 25, hawkers held a rally in front of the Jatiya Press Club demanding action against unlawful extortion.
Kashem lamented that though they have placed their demands before many higher government authorities, nobody so far has responded positively to the demands.
On July 29 last year, Ashrafuzzaman, deputy commissioner (Motijheel) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, met a team of hawkers to know about their grievances.
Later, a case was filed with Paltan Police Station accusing 54 linemen for collecting extortion money from hawkers.
Contacted, Ashrafuzzaman last night said police have submitted the charge sheet in the case with a local court.
Asked about the allegations against police, Inspector General of Police Hassan Mahmood Khandker  said he was unaware of the issue and nobody had complained about it before.
He denied making any comment on the issue.