Toll collection from footpath hawkers by ruling party men, police must be stopped

The biggest ‘unofficial’ trade on the footpaths in the overcrowded capital city Dhaka is extortion of money from the poor hawkers, amounting to Tk 6 crore a day and 180 crore a month, says a rough estimate. According to a newspaper report on Sunday, there are at least 300,000 hawkers in Dhaka city and they have to pay from Tk 90 to Tk 1000 daily as tolls depending on what goods they sell.
Syndicates involving powerful ruling party leaders, a section of law enforcers, their appointed linemen leaders and linemen and some ward councillors are allegedly involved in the collection of tolls. They call it ‘tax’ and use threat and torture to collect it. The extortion money is payable mandatorily to the ‘swindlers’ as a prerequisite to sell their products on the footpaths. However, the money does not reach the government exchequer – which is supposed to be managed by the city corporations. But the reality is different.
Reportedly, there are at least 38 ‘linemen leaders’ in 65 areas including Sutrapur, Lakkhibazar, Bahadur Shah Park, Gulistan, Paltan, Motijhil, Jatrabari, Jurain, New Market, Farmgate, Mirpur and Uttara oversee the collection. Over 150 linemen collect tolls from the hawkers in the city. Dhaka city officials and police, however, brushed aside their involvement in such extortion from the Dhaka city footpaths.  
Meanwhile, a total of 37 hawkers in Sutrapur and Gendaria areas have recently filed a written complaint with the Inspector General of Police (IGP) against 14 linemen and linemen leaders. They alleged that the extortionists use the names of a sub-inspector (SI) of Gendaria police outpost and city corporation officials in collecting tolls. They also claim themselves to be involved with the ruling party politics. Allegedly, a portion of the tolls goes to the Kayettuli police outpost.
As it is not possible to evict the hawkers from the footpath of Dhaka city, the authorities must take steps designating places for hawkers in order to curb extortion. For thousands of hawkers, the footpath businesses are their livelihood and it is inhuman to evict them without ensuring their proper rehabilitation. It also needs to take expeditious steps to make a list of hawkers and provide them with identity cards in recognition of their profession and some space to pursue their profession without any hassle. Besides, there should be a national hawkers’ policy, a policy that will create opportunities to generate revenue through collecting taxes from hawkers and eliminate the extortion syndicate.