<i>They live by collecting and selling fallen hair</i>
Women workers sorting collected hair at Satbaria village in Jhenidah Sadar upazila in Jhenidah, right, a worker drying hair at a house in the area. A large number of people in the district and other areas of the country are now engaged in collecting and processing women's hair, as the item, used for making wig, is being exported in large quantities. Photo: STAR
Fuli, Rina and Sheuly collect the fallen hair of women from houses and beauty shops and sell it to agents of a few companies. Working under an agent for six hours a day, each of them gets Tk 50 daily. They are among hundreds of women engaged in the trade in Jhenidah. Thousands others also do the work in different districts of the country. ZCD Food and Craft International, a China-based private company, provides financial support for the work. "Every day, hair worth around Tk one crore is exported to China, Europe and other countries. There are one lakh women workers and five thousand hawkers and 50 agents in the country," said Wang Ziao Pei, the owner of ZCD Food and Craft International. "It is a prospective item for the country. This hair is used to make wig in developed countries. Several companies collect the processed hair at Uttara in Dhaka. They send it to Korea, China and Burma in good quantities," he added. Hawkers buy a kg of hair for Tk 500/700 and they sell it to the agents for Tk 2000/2200. The agents sell the hair to the owner at Tk 2500/7000 as per quality. "I work before or after my class hours and earn Tk 50 a day for my family," said Popy Das, a school student. Sagar, a local agent, said he usually runs his trade in Dhaka but finding a huge potential in other districts, he invested more money for the purpose. A number of traders are engaging the jobless women in the business, he added. During a visit to Arappur village near Jhenidah town, this correspondent saw a number of women doing the work eagerly. Housewives Jasoda Rani and Bharati Dasi of Satbaria village said they are now happy to get earning opportunity through hair collecting.
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