Trading in waste human hair turns lucrative for poor women in Rajshahi, Naogan

Our Correspondent

RAJSHAHI, Sept-30: Trading in throwaway and fallen human hair is getting popular in Tanore upazila of Rajshahi and Manda and Niamatpur upazilas of Naogaon district. Due to a high price of hair, many low income group people were being attracted with the trade. One kilogramme of hair (women's hair) is being sold even at Tk 18,000 in local market. A regular market of hair purchasing and selling, six days a week, is being held at Chowbaria under Tanore upazila. Daily transaction stands over Tk 0.25 million.

Centring the hair market, many hair processing centres have also been set up in small scale in various houses of the upazilas where poor and helpless women are getting employed.

Hair traders at Chowbaria market informed, many women of the district preserved their throwaway hair after combing their hair and the hawkers used to purchase those hair by visiting house to house. After purchasing the hair, hawkers send those to the local hair processing centres where those hair are cleaned, sorted, dried and sized. After cleaning and sorting of the hair at the processing centres, those are taken to Chowbaria market for selling. The haat is held everyday in week except on Friday. Wholesale hair traders from various places of the country visited the haat to purchase hair.

It is learnt, hair is exported from Bangladesh to various countries like India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Vietnam, China, Japan and Korea. Those hair is used to make wig and various luxury items. It is learnt, the demand of Bangladeshi hair was increasing day by day in the international markets.

In six hair processing centres of Tanore upazila, more than five hundred workers, mainly women, used to work. These workers there work from morning to the afternoon. They mainly work to unfasten the litigated hair.

Kajoli Begum, a worker at a hair processing centre in Tanore informed, they mainly clean, sort and unfasten the knots of the hair. Male workers of the centre mainly clean by removing grease or oily substances from the hair and then those are dried in the sun and are made suitable for selling in several phases. Each female worker gets Taka 120 daily wages for their job. More than one member of the family are usually engaged as workers in the processing centres and thus help getting economic solvency of the family.

Nipa Bewa of the same centre informed, they used to work by sitting at a same place all the day. As a result, dust and participles attached to the hair entered into their noses and mouths resulting a regular cough and cold of all workers. But, there having to scope of other better job, they were forced to stick to their unhygienic profession. She informed, since there having no need of any physical labour, many house wives, farmers and students are being engaged with the job.

Selim Hossain, owner of a hair processing centre in Madaripur village informed, they used to purchase hair at Taka 3,500 per kilogramme from the hawkers. After processing one kilogramme of hair, it turns 65o grammes. They usually sell processed hair at Taka 5,500 per kilogramme but the processed hair which are longer than 12 inches are sold even at Taka 1,800 per kilogramme.

Raihan Ali, a hair trader at Chowbaria haat informed, hair is supplied at Chowbaria haat from various hair processing centres in Tanore, Niamatpur and Manda upazilas. Many wholesale hair traders also regularly visit the haat to purchase hair. Around 20 to 30 kilogram's of hair amounting Taka 2.5 lakh are sold at the haat daily. Day by day, the hair market is getting momentum with further demand of hair, he said.

Moslem Uddin Pramanik, Chairman of Kamargaon Union Parishad under Tanore upazila said, there is a bright prospect of hair trading and hair based industry in Tanore but due to lack of proper patronisation, it is not being emerged as an industry.

Muhammad Shaokat Ali, Upazila Nirbahi Officer of Tanore in this connection said, trading in hair is a potential sector. The condition of livelihood of rural people is being improved by being involves in the sector. He opined, if bank loan and other facilities are available for the sector, it will further flourish and establish as an industry here.

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