Staff Reporter : Greater Rangpur Bidi Workers Union on Wednesday pressed home their demand to reduce tariffs on bidis in the next budget for the 2026-27 fiscal year.
Thousands of bidi workers gathered in front Rangpur Collectorate Surovi Uddan and staged demonstrations this morning.
Their demands are withdrawal of tax on bidi, increasing the working day of bidi workers, mandatory for licensed bidi factories to hoist banderols,At the end of the human chain, they presented a memorandum of a five-point demand to be submitted to the prime minister through the Rangpur deputy commissioner. margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri,
‘Times New Roman’, serif;”>President of Bangladesh Bidi Shramik Federation Amin Uddin BSc in the chair, its Vice-president Nazim Uddin, Anower Hossain, General Secretary Harik Hossain, Joint Secretary Abdul Gofur leaders Abul Hasnat Lavlu, Shamim Islam, addressed the programme, among others.
margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;”>The speakers said that thousands of bidi workers including the helpless, disadvantaged, extremely poor, and physically handicapped and widows have been making a living by working in the bidi sector.
margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;”>However, the country’s ancient labor-intensive industry is being destroyed gradually by the conspiracy of a section of foreign multinational companies.
margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;”>Amin Uddin BSc said multinational companies were smuggling crores of money abroad from the country after earning huge money by selling their cigarettes.
margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;”>Some corrupt local officials are taking advantage of foreign multinational companies and imposing excessive taxes on bidis. ‘As a result,
the bidi workers are living a dehumanized life,” he said. style=”text-align: justify; margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;” span style=”font-size: 12pt; font-family: ‘Times New Roman’, serif;”>Harik Hossain said some unfair traders are making fake bidis and marketing them to evade the tariff, depriving the government of huge revenue.
style=”text-align: justify; margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;”span style=”font-size: 12pt; font-family: ‘Times New Roman’, serif;”>He urged the customs authorities to take necessary steps to halt unlawful bidi manufacturers and counterfeit bidi.