<i>Kids hawk papers on Ctg streets</i>
Eight-year-old Ujjal is one among the many children who earn their livelihoods by selling newspapers on the streets, unwary of the accident risks they are exposed to. This photo was taken from GEC intersection in the Chittagong city recently. Photo: Prabir Das
As a bus pulled over to drop passengers at the GEC circle stop in Chittagong city, Ujjal ran to it and got on board, he had only a few minutes to sell some newspapers before the bus departed. A couple of people handed him Tk 4 and bought newspapers. He hurriedly got off, as the bus started to pull out. With a bundle of newspapers under his arm, and one in his hand that he was waving and yelling out to pedestrians, “Paper, paper, for just four taka you will get all the fresh news.” Ujjal Hossain, an eight-year-old boy, sells newspapers on the streets from morning to till early afternoon in the port city Chittagong, and then he goes to an afternoon school run by a non-government organisation. “Everyday I come out from home around 6:30am and collect newspapers from my uncle at Jhawtala. Then I go through different points of the city and sell those newspapers. Sometimes I sell newspapers on the Chittagong University shuttle train also.” “I can sell about 50 to 60 copies in a day. But the number decreases on holidays because many people do not come out from their houses on those days.” “With one taka commission for selling a copy of newspaper, I earn around fifty taka to sixty taka daily. I give all the money to my mother,” he said. Ujjal said he lives in Jhawtala slum with his parents and his brother and two sisters. His father is a vegetable seller who is unable to meet the expenses of the family with his income, so Ujjal has to help out with the earning. The boy, also a student of class II, said he can read newspapers now, and dreams to be a police officer. Like Ujjal, there are many other children who sell newspapers on the streets risking accidents in the port city. According to Chittagong Newspaper Hawkers Multipurpose Co-Operative General Secretary Delwar Hossain around 30 to 40 boys sell newspapers by collecting them privately from some hawkers. He, however, claimed that there is no member in the association aged below 15. Mohammad Hossain, a newspaper hawker in Kadamtoli area, said some six boys take newspapers from him and sell those at different areas in the Chittagong city. “The boys can help their family by selling the papers, and I also get some money,” he said. Talking to some boys who sell newspapers on the streets this correspondent learnt that the average ages of the children are between 8 to 12 years, and most of them from poor families. An 11-year-old boy, Sohag, sells newspaper in Bahaddarhat area. He said he is only the breadwinner of his family. “My father died three years ago. I have to look after my mother and two younger sisters,” he said adding, “Some buy copies of newspaper, some don't, some even get annoyed also.” Nine-year-old Sumon was busy in selling newspapers in the city's New Market area. He said he has to face some problems in this job. “Older hawkers often create obstruction to sell newspapers at the spot, while some people do not pay prices after taking a copy of newspaper,” he said. “Sometimes we have to get down from running buses after selling newspapers risking lives,” Sumon said. Sources at Social Welfare Department in Chittagong said there is no statistics of the child labours in the city. Hasan Masud, social welfare officer at unit office-1 of the department, said the department has no direct project to stop child labour. “But, we have a project for the street children to provide them basic needs, including foods, shelters and education,” he said. Aparajeyo Bangladesh, an NGO, is implementing the project titled “Protection of Children at Risk” (PCAR), he added. Mahab-ul-Alam, the NGO's project manager in Chittagong region, said they are operating three shelter homes under the project in the city. “We are providing foods and education to some street children at the shelter homes,” he said.
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