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Political unrest mars fight against poverty

Many slip back into extreme hardship as earnings dip due to shutdowns

Sohel Parvez
In the last few days, cart puller Mohammad Babul had to skip at least one meal everyday as his earnings dropped for the ongoing blockade enforced by BNP and its allies. He has no work as there is no demand for transporting goods.
Yesterday, he spent half of the day sitting idle. On Tuesday, he earned only Tk 80. A day before, it was Tk 160, and it was Tk 150 on Sunday. On Saturday, he had no work at all.
"My income is so low that I cannot buy groceries for my family. Whatever I can earn, I take back home. If I eat lunch, I cannot ensure food for my other family members," Babul said.
11 is wife works as a domestic help and gets some food from the homes she works in. Sometimes, when Babul's income is too low, his mother-in-law sends some food over for his two kids.
"We are really in deep trouble for the repeated shutdowns, blockades and violence," he said, sitting with other cart pullers near the capital's rice wholesale depot in Babu Bazar. There have been 18 days of shutdown and blockade since October 27.
The Daily Star interviewed more than 20 people in different professions, from transport and construction workers, street vendors, hawkers, restaurant workers, rickshaw-pullers, small retailers, vegetables and dairy farmers to industrialists. The political stalemate has affected the livelihoods of all.
Many have fallen into a debt trap, while many others struggle to make ends meet; small hawkers and street vendors are seeing sales drop drastically.
The unrelenting political unrest not only slows the pace of the economy but also pushes many people into poverty temporarily, economists said.
And the situation of those who graduated from extreme poverty in recent years has worsened, eroding the gains in poverty cuts and threaten-
ing to slow the pace of reduction, they added.
"These people live close to the poverty line and can cope with income loss for one or two days of shutdown. But they cannot cope for longer," said the World Bank's Bangladesh Lead Economist Zahid Hussain.
"So it is likely that the continuing instability has pushed the vulnerable population into poverty temporarily. They are unlikely to recover from their hardship instantly."
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They can get back to their previous positions if their incomes rise for increased economic activities after stability returns in the country through an amicable settlement in politics, he said.
Between the years 2000 and 2010, 16 million people came out of poverty, taking the number of poor people down to 31.5 percent of the population in 2010, thanks to a steady economic growth.
The population under poverty was 49 percent in 2000, according to a World Bank assessment on a decade of progress in reducing poverty in Bangladesh, released in June this year.
The country was one of the top performers among 22 states in reducing multidimensional poverty, according to UN Human Development Report 2013.
Hussain said human poverty has also worsened for violence during the shutdowns because people have to take excessive risks. The loss in human resources for injuries increases poverty in the long term, he added.
Monir Hossain, a hawker who sells socks in Gulistan, said, "We, the poor, are suffering for the power conflicts between the political parties. Few people move about for a fear of violence, which has reduced my sales by more than a half."
Mohammad Ayub, who sells toothbrushes on the footpaths in Gulistan, said he could send only Tk 1,000 to his family in
the village since October 22.
"My family already bought goods worth Tk 2,000 on credit, while here I am struggling to pay rent and bear my food expenses, as sales are too low," said Ayub, who could sell toothbrushes worth only Tk 150 till 1.20pm on Tuesday.
He sells a toothbrush at Tk 10, at a margin of Tk 3.5. On Monday, his total sales figure was Tk 300, with a profit of Tk 100. Last Friday, when there was no shutdown, his sales wereTk 700.
Mohammad Ibrahim, a roadside tea and snacks seller, said his average sales stand at Tk 3,000 a day, which drops to a third during shutdowns.
"I got only one call since Saturday," said Mohammad Ali, a construction worker. He had to borrow Tk 1,000 to pay a part of his son's grade nine tuition fees before the final exams.
"I have to send home at least Tk 4,000 a month anyhow. But I am not sure if I will be able to this month."
Mustafa K Mujeri, director general of Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS), said the adversity of people below and above the poverty line will worsen if the political deadlock continues.
"Their numbers are huge. It will take a long time for these people to improve their situation."
"The pace of poverty reduction will be slow and will negatively affect poverty reduction bids."