Our Correspondent

CHITTAGONG, Dec 30: A large number of dwellers of the port city, specially lower income people, depends on old clothings during the winter but high prices have put them in a difficult situation.

Bangladesh Old Clothes Traders Welfare Association (BOCWA) have called for lifting quota system in importing old clothes and reducing the rate of import duty to facilitate the general people buy at cheaper price.

Only the importers selected through open lottery conducted by the District Committee under quota system on the basis of district-wise population, are eligible for importing the old clothes.

Concerned sources said, 3000 importers are selected across the country and they are allowed to import old clothes worth taka 50,000 each. In this way 3000 importers are allowed to import clothes worth Tk 150 million in total.

Although it is mandatory to sell the entire lot of imported clothes within concerned district but actual situation is different. District committee's duty is confined within holding lottery only and they do not bother for supervising the task of selling the same by the selected importers in the prescribed areas.