Hungry faces line Moghbazar day labourers’ market 

As he does every morning, Sahabuddin Gazi came to the Moghbazar Sramik Market at 7:30am to look for work. 

He waited till noon.

Speaking to The Business Standard, Gazi, a mason's assistant, said, "I won't get work today, so I am leaving. There's nothing else to do. At a time of rising prices, my income is falling. My family will have to borrow money again."

Gazi's fate is one shared by hundreds of others who were sitting on the railway line of the Moghbazar junction. 

Some had bags in their hands, while others carried spades or buckets.

They were all day labourers and this was the spot where they would usually get hired from. 

The blockades have been hitting them where it hurt the most: their already empty wallets.

A group of day workers waited in the Moghbazar area of the capital until 12 pm, but their wait was in vain. Photo: Jahir Rayhan

"Around 150-180 people came to the market today. At most, 20 would be hired at this rate," Gazi said.

Many had already started returning home, empty-handed. 

Day labourers live on daily wages, and each day without work is another day they would be forced to borrow from others.

Of the ten workers this correspondent spoke to, all said they had made much less money compared to last month. 

Previously it was normal to work 20 or more days a month, however with the start of the blockades it's proving difficult to work even 15 days in a month.

Rising costs have already suppressed the job market for day labourers, and the blockade has exacerbated the problem significantly.

Gazi provides for his wife and two school-going children who live in his Khulna village.

He lives with six others in a one room house in Moghbazar and needs about Tk4,500 per month to meet his expenses.

"If I work, I get Tk600-700 per day. But, I have not been getting any work for the last four days. We have to feed our stomachs and send money home. What will I eat if I don't get work?"

The rising prices of essentials has also meant he eats much less than usual. 

"I bought potatoes for Tk20, but now the same is Tk50. Onions cost between Tk60-140. The rice I bought for Tk45 per kg is now Tk65. Due to the increase in commodity prices, somehow I barely manage to eat pulses, rice and vegetables. I eat chicken once a week."

Considering the hard physical labour involved in his work, he requires a lot of nutritious food.

"I don't have money so I can't eat. I feel very weak while working."

Gazi, who has been living in the Moghbazar area for about four years, said he couldn't recall the last time he faced such a crisis. 

"I used to get work even during the Covid-19 pandemic. People would show compassion. But this is no longer the case."

Hearing Gazi speak, six other workers joined the conversation.

Mohammad Sahin, who paints walls, said the authorities should visit them and see their condition.

"Although our work is decreasing, no one is taking notice of us. They push us out of sight when they cross the roads. Then how will they know our suffering?"

Sahin hadn't been able to pay rent for the past four months and eventually had to leave the room and boarding he was in.

"I have been sleeping at a friend's house in Moghbazar for a month now. I have managed to clear two months due. When I pay the full amount, I can return to the boarding. But how can you pay the rent if you don't get work?"

Kawsar, who works as a mason's assistant for a daily wage of Tk 700-800, said he was forced into the profession after his father died four years ago.  

"I studied till the ninth grade. I came to work because I could not afford the cost of education due to poverty in the family. My younger brother is in seventh standard and now I am struggling to cover his expenses."