Zahirul Islam said he and his wife Nilufa could hardly eat curry cooked without oil. However, their child does not want to eat silent. He said, 'What do you do! There is no way. What do you do with a TCB card? I can't afford to buy these at once. '
Zahirul is a resident of Dhubilapara village in Rajibpur upazila of Kurigram. Kurigram is the most poverty prone district in the country. Rajibpur upazila has the
highest poverty rate among Kurigram.
According to the latest (2016) poverty map map of Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS), the poverty rate in Kurigram is 60.8%. The rate in Rajibpur is 69.7, which is the highest among the upazilas of the country. Most of the people in this district and its upazilas are in dire straits due to rising prices of daily necessities.
Zahirul said he gets 300 rupees a day if he gets a job. On an average 20 days of work is provided. With an income of around Rs 6,000 per month, it is becoming difficult to buy rice, pulses, oil, onion, chili etc. and manage other household expenses. He has no land. They live in a sholar (made of jute) fence on 10 percent of Baba Zafar Ali's land.
With a dirty face, Zahirul said that it was difficult for him to buy the 'package' of TCB products. Because, he doesn't have that much money at one time.
It may be mentioned that two liters of soybean oil, two kg of sugar, two kg of lentils and two kg of gram are being sold in the upazila through Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB). The price of the whole package is 530 rupees.
A visit to several unions of Rajibpur Upazila showed a picture of the misery of the poor people last Thursday. The residents of the village said that they have cut the expenses of the family as much as possible. Since rice, pulses, oil and onions are not on their market list, oil has been left out to reduce costs. Some have reduced the amount of onions. Some people cook with less pulses and more water.
Hunufa Khatun (42) and Saiful Islam (50), a housewife from Shankarmadhabpur village, are the victims of river erosion. He owns a shola house on 4 percent of his land. Saiful goes from house to house all day, collects bhangari and sells it in the market, earning 250 to 300 rupees a day.
Hunufa said, 'Every day the husband's earnings are not the same. The day I don't earn, the day I borrow, I run my family. It takes food. How many days have I been cooking curry without oil? We don't want to eat polapane even if we have mercy. '
Morzina Begum, 50, a housewife from Badarpur village, said her family consists of husband, wife, mother-in-law and four children. Morzina's husband Rahizul Bhuiyan (60). Rahizul earns a day's wages and his youngest son Mofizul earns a living by driving an auto rickshaw. Father and son earn 500 to 600 rupees throughout the day. That money is used to buy rice, pulses and vegetables. He said, after two or three months, if there is any extra income, they can eat fish and meat.
According to some grocers in Rajibpur market, prices of rice, pulses, oil, chili, onion, soap and other items have gone up. Last year the price of oil was 130 rupees, now it is 18 rupees a liter. Lentils were 60 rupees; It has increased to 100 rupees per kg. 75 rupees per kg of sugar is now 80 rupees. In addition, the price of soap has increased by 5-10 rupees.
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