Urban migrants rushing to villages to work as day-labourers
Saturday, 14 May 2011
FE Report
Urban migrants are rushing to the villages for working in the rice field as day labourers. We are working in the Boro field finding more profit, migrants said. Md Khalilur Rahman (32), has come to his home village Sammukhboilor at Boilor union under Trishal Upazila in Mymensingh district on May 9. He is working in Abdul Zabbar's Boro field to harvest his land at Tk 400 including two meals a day. Talking to the FE on May 10 he said: "Our father had a little land and 7 siblings including me. We five brothers got a little farmland and a tiny space for living after my father passed away in the great flood year (1988)". "I lost my little portion of land to pay debt to a Mahajon (money lender) ten years back. Trying many things I migrated to Narayanganj to pull rickshaw in 2000," he said. He said, he earns Tk 200 to 220 a day in Narayanganj while he is getting Tk 350 to 400 from the Boro field now. This year I heard from my neighbours that day labourers were in great demand. Rubel Rana (38) a rickshaw puller in Dhaka has come to his village Dangapara at Choraikhola Union in Nilphamari sadar to harvest paddy as a day labourer this year. He said he was getting Tk 280 to 300, a little more than his earning in Dhaka (Tk 250 to Tk 260). "My profit is that I would buy some paddy at a cheap rate by the earning. I will give it to my family living at Melardanga (a village in Choraikhola union)" he said. Md. Billal Hussain, a CNG run auto rickshaw driver in Dhaka is now at Ariol Beel in Munshiganj with his 'threshing machine'. Talking to the FE he said he lived at Naodubi in Shariyatpur district, but left Shariyatpur looking for work a decade ago. Billal was threshing paddy in this Boro season at Ariol at a rate of 1 maund paddy for every 50 maunds. According to a survey, nearly 57 per cent population of the country are landless and the number of the landless population is increasing day by day. River erosion, climate change, debt, etc. are forcing people to migrate to towns and cities, the survey said. Professor Abdul Bayes of Jahangirnagar University addressed it as 'occupation mobility'. He said these seasonal migrants chose profitable occupations that give them chances to earn some more. He said if they had enough land, the rate of the migration would have been much less.
Urban migrants are rushing to the villages for working in the rice field as day labourers. We are working in the Boro field finding more profit, migrants said. Md Khalilur Rahman (32), has come to his home village Sammukhboilor at Boilor union under Trishal Upazila in Mymensingh district on May 9. He is working in Abdul Zabbar's Boro field to harvest his land at Tk 400 including two meals a day. Talking to the FE on May 10 he said: "Our father had a little land and 7 siblings including me. We five brothers got a little farmland and a tiny space for living after my father passed away in the great flood year (1988)". "I lost my little portion of land to pay debt to a Mahajon (money lender) ten years back. Trying many things I migrated to Narayanganj to pull rickshaw in 2000," he said. He said, he earns Tk 200 to 220 a day in Narayanganj while he is getting Tk 350 to 400 from the Boro field now. This year I heard from my neighbours that day labourers were in great demand. Rubel Rana (38) a rickshaw puller in Dhaka has come to his village Dangapara at Choraikhola Union in Nilphamari sadar to harvest paddy as a day labourer this year. He said he was getting Tk 280 to 300, a little more than his earning in Dhaka (Tk 250 to Tk 260). "My profit is that I would buy some paddy at a cheap rate by the earning. I will give it to my family living at Melardanga (a village in Choraikhola union)" he said. Md. Billal Hussain, a CNG run auto rickshaw driver in Dhaka is now at Ariol Beel in Munshiganj with his 'threshing machine'. Talking to the FE he said he lived at Naodubi in Shariyatpur district, but left Shariyatpur looking for work a decade ago. Billal was threshing paddy in this Boro season at Ariol at a rate of 1 maund paddy for every 50 maunds. According to a survey, nearly 57 per cent population of the country are landless and the number of the landless population is increasing day by day. River erosion, climate change, debt, etc. are forcing people to migrate to towns and cities, the survey said. Professor Abdul Bayes of Jahangirnagar University addressed it as 'occupation mobility'. He said these seasonal migrants chose profitable occupations that give them chances to earn some more. He said if they had enough land, the rate of the migration would have been much less.