Bidi workers and tobacco farmers of Kushtia have urged the government to reduce taxes on bidi and fix fair prices.Bidi workers and tobacco farmers of Kushtia held a human chain in front of the deputy commissioner's office in Kushtia on Wednesday to press home a 5-point charter of demands.Tobacco is used in the bidi industry but due to conspiracies hatched by foreign multinational tobacco companies the government has imposed high taxes on bidi, forcing the factories to close down, workers said, adding because bidi factories are closing down, tobacco farmers are not being able to sell their produce. READ: Drowning in debt, govt school principal ends life in Kushtia Due to the increase in tariffs on bidis, unscrupulous traders are marketing bidis with fake band-rolls to evade tax. As a result, the government is being deprived of a huge amount of revenue.The five demands are: bidi workers should have to work for six days a week, tax levied on bidi should be reduced, the 10 percent advance income tax imposed on the bidi industry should be withdrawn, fair price should be fixed for tobacco, and factories of counterfeit bidi should be busted.The speakers further said that tobacco farmers are becoming helpless due to the aggression of foreign multinational companies. Held hostage by the foreign companies, farmers are being deprived of a fair price for tobacco. As a result, thousands of tobacco farmers and traders are suffering financially and they are in dire straits with their families.The speakers called upon the government to address the problems of tobacco growers and bidi workers. READ: Missing youth found dead in Kushtia Golam Mostafa, labour affairs secretary of the Kushtia district of the Awami League, was the chief guest at the protest programme, chaired by Md Nazim Uddin, general secretary of Kushtia Zilla Bidi Sangram Parishad and vice-president of Bangladesh Bidi Workers Federation. Workers' leader Tarun Sheikh moderated the event.

The Bidi workers on Saturday (May 01, 2021) urged the government to take necessary measures to save the industry’s workers for ensuring the livelihood of millions of workers and their family members. They made the call at a rally in front of Jatiya Press Club in Dhaka. The bidi is a smoked product made of unprocessed tobacco wrapped in leaves unique to South Asia. Bidi Sramik Federation president M K Bangali said thousands of bidi workers staged a rally in the city alongside Kushtia, Pabna, Bogura Tangail, Barisal, Patuakhali, marking the international May Day. Read Covid-19: Hasina for balancing livelihoods and public health “We broke out processions with various placards and posters of our demands. We are going through a miserable time as factories are being closed day by day,” he also said. Executive Member of the organization Anwar Hossain said they have to be united to press home their demand by taking the lesson of bloodshed history of the Labor Day. The historic May Day was observed today as the world battles the coronavirus pandemic which has rendered millions of workers jobless in recent months. “The COVID-19 hit our income hard, so the government should pay attention to us,” he also said. Read May Day: Workers trapped between hunger and fear Some 10 workers were killed in Chicago on May 1 in 1886 when police opened fire on a demonstration demanding an eight-hour working day instead of a 12-hour shift. The authorities were eventually forced to accept the workers’ demand which resulted in an eight-hour working day universally. On July 14, 1889, an international workers' rally in Paris declared May 1 as the International Workers' Solidarity Day in recognition of the workers' sacrifice in Chicago. Read PROGGA, ATMA for imposing specific taxes on tobacco products