DHAKA: Hawkers, who sell goods on footpaths, pay Tk 850 crore annually as extortion to several “illegal” organizations across the country.
 
Hawker leaders came up with the assertion while addressing program of Third National Hawkers Convention at Photojournalists Association auditorium in city’s Purana Paltan area on Saturday.

They told banglanews that there are over 500,000 hawkers in the country.

Each has to pay at least Tk 50 everyday as extortion to different organizations. That’s a total of Tk 850 crore is given as extortion every year, the newsmen were told.

They also said the government loses a huge amount of revenue and draw attention of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

Arif Chowdhury, president of National Hawkers Federation, said that hawkers are also always being tortured due to the lack of regulation.

He said, “The hawkers association wants to draw Prime Minister’s attention to make a specific policy in stopping collecting extortion from them.”

BDST: 1935 HRS, MAR 29, 2014