Barishal Customs office besieged demanding ban of fake bidi

Economic Reporter :
Barishal District Bidi Owners Somiti and Bidi Workers Union formed a human chain programme in front of the district’s Customs, Excise, and VAT office to disclose their six-point demands, including the prohibition of counterfeit bidi on Thursday.
Their demands include stopping revenue evasion on all bidis as well as issuing licenses without verification (online), reducing the duty on bidis, eliminating 10pc income tax on bidis, increasing the price of cigarettes to sustain the bidi industry and workers, prohibiting the issuance of bidi factory licences without site inspection and taking legal action against counterfeiters.
Among others, Bangladesh Bidi Workers Federation general-secretary Abdur Rahman, Vice president Lokman Hakim, Nazim Uddin, joint-secretary Harik Hossain, Anower Hossain spoke at the programme.
The speakers said that numbers of workers who are disadvantaged and underprivileged make a living by working in the bidi-manufacturing industry.
“The country’s obsolete labour-intensive industry is being destroyed by conspiracies of foreign multinational companies,” they said, alleging that these companies smuggle thousands of crores of Taka by manufacturing the product which poses dreadful health risks.