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Many low-income people in Dhaka city have changed their regular jobs to some adjustable ones and some others found innovative working ideas for daily earnings amid the countrywide shutdown since March 26.
Switch to new jobs and income ideas are helping them in maintaining their families even after having the worst impact on the Bangladesh's job market in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic.
The FE correspondent on Saturday talked with at least 20 poor people and observed some innovative ideas among them for engaging in several income generating activities.
"I was basically a helper of a bus running on Mirpur-Motijheel route for last three years. I had no income for 12 days since March 26. For last one week, I have started selling guava in a mobile van," said Faruk Hossain at Mirpur area.
"I have no way but to feed my two children, wife and my mother. I don't know how many days I can continue it as I had to face police three times on the roads inside the small neighbourhood," he told the FE.
This correspondent stopped a poly-bag supplier at Kalshi area in Mirpur. When asked about his real profession, Mr Ranjan Mandol replied: "I had a temporary tea-stall beside the footpath on a road. I could not open it for last 12 days. But that was only my daily earning source to maintain my 5-member family."
"In the first week, my all savings ran out. I was anxious over bearing family expenses. At last, I thought that many people are distributing relief materials using shopping bags. So, my wife and I started to produce bags at home for the last five days."
Ranjan said: "Every day we produce some 200-300 bags with the help of one of my neighbours, a swing machine operator."
"We supply those bags to some 2-3 shops in the markets. Now I am going to supply bags to Mirpur-11 kitchen market," he said.
Like both of them, this correspondent has found some rickshaw-pullers, vegetable sellers on mobile vans, mask-sellers, and seasonal labourers who changed their original professions like tea-seller, CNG driver, bus helper, barber, restaurant cooks and boys, motor mechanics, wood-cutter, electrician, street vendors etc within the last two-week period.
Some day labourers and workers have also taken some innovative income ideas over the last two weeks in the capital city.
A woodcutter, Mahfuz, in front of a furniture shop at Rupnagar area has inserted a printed advertisement paper. He wrote his name with contact number and requested aspirant customers to call him for repairing furniture at respective houses.
He wrote on the advertisement paper that: "Call me. I will go to your home for repairing your furniture at a reasonable cost."
This correspondent talked to Mr Mahfuz. He said: "I have so far got four calls in last two weeks. I repaired their furniture and earned Tk 1,700."
Among this innovative income generators, barber is on the top of best earners' list as they are getting at least 2-3 calls every day over the last 10 days.
Khokon, a barber in front of Pallabi police station, told this correspondent that he had inserted an advertisement paper in front of hair-cutting salon.
"I received at least two calls a day. When a person calls me I go to his home with my hair cutting instruments and earn some Tk 70 to 150 per person. I can now feed my family with this income although my shop remained closed for last two weeks," Khokon said.
Meanwhile, the coronavirus pandemic has made millions of people across the country jobless. Among those people most of those are low income day labourers, workers, street vendors, micro and small businessmen.
Bangladesh's 58.2 per cent people work in different professions. Out of them, many are low income people and day labourers, the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) data showed.
Among the professions, 6.84 per cent are plant & machine operators and assemblers, 4.82 per cent are technicians and associate professionals, 1.47 per cent are service and salesman.
Some 28.5 per cent people in Bangladesh are engaged in the part-time work across the country, the BBS data said.