A nationwide digital cattle marketplace was launched on Tuesday ahead of the upcoming Eid-ul Azha under joint management of the ICT Division and the e-Commerce Association of Bangladesh (e-CAB).

A total of 1843 online shops and 241 marginal haats (cattle markets) are connected with the marketplace.   The images of over 10 lakh animals have so far been uploaded for online sale.

Customers from any part of the country can purchase sacrificial animals from the online marketplace --https://digitalhaat.net/-- avoiding all kinds of health hazards amid the second wave of Covid-19 pandemic.

The last delivery date will be a day before the Eid if both the seller and the buyer stay in the same city or area. In case of irregularities or discrepancy, the aggrieved seller or buyer can also lodge complaints at 09614102030.

Fisheries and Livestock Minister SM Rezaul Karim inaugurated the digital cattle market at a virtual function, chaired by State Minister of ICT Division Zunaid Ahmed Palak.

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SM Rezaul said the online marketplace will ensure fair prices to the cattle traders, while purchasers can chose right animals.

“Since the government has worked in building the country as ‘Digital Bangladesh,’ we’re getting the facility of buying sacrificial animals safely from home instead of going to markets physically,” he said.

Palak purchased a cow from the digital marketplace through Escrow service and he donated it to a social welfare organisation.

Fisheries and Livestock Secretary Rawnak Mahmud told the function that some 85,000 sacrificial animals were sold through different online platforms across the country last year.

Also read: Cattle markets open in Dhaka amid low arrival, high prices

“As of Monday last, a total of 157,288 animals were sold through digital platforms in the country this time,” he said adding the total prices of the sold animals is some Tk 1,116 crore.

The secretary hoped that the online sale will hit a record this year.

The total market of sacrificial animal was Tk 57,000 crore in 2019 and Tk 52,000 crore in 2020. Some 94 lakh sacrificial animals were sold in 2020, he said.

ICT Division Senior Secretary NM Zeaul Alam, Project Director of Access to Information (a2i) Programme Dr Abdul Mannan, e-CAB president Shomi Kaiser and e-CAB general secretary Abdul Wahed Tomal also spoke on the occasion.