FAR1DPUR. Feb 1: The day labourers here have been facing acute unemployment problem following the devastating floods which affected badly six of the eight thanas in the district.

As there was no post-flood special allocation of money to create job Opportunities in the rural areas, landless people, marginal farmers and river-eroded people are not finding any job in their respective areas to earn their livelihood. Though government has distributed a good number of VGF and VGD cards, there are sill many others who could not be provided with either VGF or VGD cards or were they given any kind of loan or assistance.

These unfortunate people usually earn their livelihood by selling their manual labour, but after the floods people of moderate means of the locality cannot afford to employ labourers for repairs and reconstruction of their houses damaged by the floods owing to financial con-traints.

These unemployed people having no other recourses to fall back upon in their respective areas. are pouring in large number in upazila and district headquarters to sell their labour for mere survival. As a result labour selling markets have sprung up.

In the district headquarters, two labour selling markets sit every morning— one at Alipur crossing and the other in front of Baitul Mokaddem market. Hundreds of such labourers start from their respective houses in the small hours and assemble at these two markets before 7 am with their working tools such as buskets, axes, spades, seythes, buill-hooks and long ropes walking a distance of 15 to 20 kilometres. They also carry with them

their mid-day meals in pots wrapped in napkins (gamchha). They remain seated there in eager expectation to have a customer to sell their labour. When a customer is seen approaching them, five to 10 labourers offer him to see their labour and after a close bargaining, the customer takes two or three Of them to his choice as well as at the cheapest rate. Even a healthy and young labourer has to sell his labour at Taka 60 to 70 a day.

When interviewed some labourers said that they had come from far flung areas of sadar thana and they had five to six dependents who would go unfed if they were not provided with jobs a day. Such is the condition of the day-labourers here.

Under the perspective of this dismal condition, the government should allocate special fund to create job opportunities in the rural areas so that poor people are employed in jobs and make their living in their respective areas by the sweat of their brow.