Digital haat for sacrificial animals to be launched today

Digital haat (market) is set to be launched today to facilitate online sales of sacrificial animals on the occasion of Eid-ul-Azha in Bangladesh.

Fisheries and Livestock Minister SM Rezaul Karim is expected to inaugurate the online cattle market through a virtual ceremony later in the day.

Customers can buy cattle from digitalhaat.gov.bd, which is run by the ICT Division.

E-commerce aggregator ekShop, the Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC), the fisheries and livestock ministry, the Bangladesh Dairy Farmers Association, and the e-Commerce Association of Bangladesh are supporting the initiative.

There will be an escrow system to ensure safe transactions and safeguard customers' money.

About 9,093,242 cattle were sacrificed across the country last year, data from the ministry showed. Of them, 387,579 were sold online.

Besides, about 20 makeshift cattle markets will be set up in Dhaka this year. The Bangladesh Bank and the DNCC are facilitating a digital payment system in six of them so that customers can make transactions electronically.