Bangladesh rickshaws get modern makeover
The backbreaking job of pedalling a rickshaw in Bangladesh could soon be history with a local company saying it has come up with battery-powered, rechargeable cycles.Bangladesh Diesel Plant, an agricultural farm tool manufacturer owned by the country's powerful army, says it has created an electric rickshaw and plans to launch it by the end of the year.The head of the project, Major Abdullah Al Mahmud, told AFP the new rickshaw was a novel way of easing Dhaka's traffic woes, without hurting the income of those who earn their living by carrying passengers around town.
There are an estimated one million cycle rickshaws in Bangladesh. Half of those are in the capital Dhaka, and are often blamed for its severe traffic jams, reputed to be the worst in South Asia.
The three-wheelers -- still the cheapest and sometimes only mode of transport that can navigate Dhaka's narrow alleys -- are a vital source of income for many in the impoverished country.
However, the physically gruelling work is often criticised by rights groups as inhumane. But several attempts to eliminate rickshaws from Bangladesh have come to nothing.
Most drivers seen on the streets of Dhaka have legs of steel: they work at least 12 hours a day, seven days a week to earn a daily wage of between 150 and 200 taka (two and three dollars).Rickshaw riders normally rent their vehicles from garage owners, who own fleets of up to 200.
Mahmud said the garages would be equipped to deal with repairs on site.
In 2004, the World Bank aborted a lending project to phase out rickshaws from Dhaka's main roads after a study showed that it would severely hit the migrants who come to the capital to escape destitution in the countrysideGiving a hand up, not a handout
Muhammad Yunus is an unusual banker: famous but not rich. His celebrity derives from his clients, Bangladesh's poor. By Lending tiny amounts of money to the neediest people on the planet Professor Yunus gave birth to a global banking phenomena: micro-credit.
Grameen Bank, which Prof Yunus founded in the mid-seventies, has grown into an emblem of social capitalism, promoting the idea that with just a few dollars the poor would become entrepreneurs, pull themselves out of poverty and lift their poverty-stricken nation with them.
In making money lending a respectable concept in a poor, conservative Muslim country, Prof Yunus and Grameen Bank was awarded the Nobel peace prize this year.
Grameen now lends $1bn to 7 million poor people. Almost all are women from Bangladesh's 78,000 villages. The repayment rate is a staggering 99%, although many loans are refinanced rather than repaid. The bottom line, says Prof Yunus, is profits will top $20m this year.The 67-year-old's cherubic face has graced front pages across the world for giving the poor, in his own words, a "hand up not a handout".
"I believe that all humans are entrepreneurs. It is a case of seeing what is entrepreneurship. Selling snacks on the roadside is entrepreneurship. Before that, all that was available was moneylenders [and we had] bonded labour. We now provide the money and have businesses. It is peaceful development."
Grameen, which means "village" in Bengali, began life three decades ago when Prof Yunus, then an economics lecturer, found women weaving bamboo stools but selling them for meagre profits because of usurious interest rates.
Credit
As an experiment, Prof Yunus lent a total of $27 to 42 women in the village. All of them repaid. "The women were credit-worthy. It was the lending that was not people-worthy," he says.
What is remarkable is how Grameen bank upended conventional thinking in lending. The bank seeks no guarantee or references and has no binding contracts.
It does chase bad debts but does not check or monitor how the money it lends is used. Grameen, Prof Yunus says, is about proving that the poor, especially women, can be trusted to repay.
"We have a non-professional way of looking at it. Basically a billion dollars goes out and a billion dollars come back. Something must have happened. Money is piling up in the savings account."
Prof Yunus' two much-repeated tenets are "credit is a fundamental human right" and "poverty will one day be found only in a museum".
To western eyes Bangladesh remains mired in poverty. On the streets of Dhaka, Bangladesh's capital, one sees SUVs plying through a sea of beggars. Cycle rickshaws propelled by bare-chested men clog roads.
But Prof Yunus says that Grameen is helping to eat into poverty rates and empower women. He says that fertility rates have halved and the family size has shrunk, surprising "because Bangladesh is a Muslim country". Grameen bank's own surveys show 58% of borrowers have crossed the poverty line.
The only problem is Bangladesh's "political turmoil", which threatens to derail the good work. "It is the big worry we have," he says hours before the army takes to the streets as thousands of protesters paralyse the capital. Although Prof Yunus has been urged to enter politics and "save the nation", he demurs, saying it is not his "professional calling".
Islamic groups in the country have criticised him, Grameen Bank and micro-credit for charging interest and making women work. Under some interpretations of the Qur'an both are forbidden.
"I tried to explain it is not all that bad. That the prophet Mohammed's own wife was a businesswoman whom Muslim women could emulate. It is the fanatic fringe of the religious right which have problems with us but they are a very small minority."
"It does not solve the problem. I think that rich countries have fallen into this trap with welfare systems where able bodied humans are paid to sit around and do nothing. This is a system that produces zombies. By giving money to beggars you have the same response. It is the system not your conscience that needs reforming."
Beggars
Instead, three years ago, Prof Yunus asked Grameen employees to recruit a beggars as customers and turn them into a sales force. It offers small interest-free loans of about $12 which beggars can use to purchase "cookies or toys" which can be sold while begging. The loan can be paid back at anytime.
"It is working. We have lent now to 84,000 beggars - four for every member of staff. More than 5,000 have quit begging. All we did was lend money."
His other ventures all bear the hallmark of caring capitalism. Grameen is supplying candle-lit Bangladeshi villages with solar power and it brought French football superstar Zinedine Zidane to promote a low-cost yoghurt venture with Danone.
GrameenPhone, Bangladesh's biggest mobile operator with more than 10 million subscribers, is 62% owned by Norwegian telecom group Telenor. The rest is owned by Grameen Telecom, a firm in the Grameen family of businesses.
The managing director of Grameen Bank has won many admirers: Hillary Clinton, wife of former US President Bill Clinton, said that Prof Yunus had helped the Clintons introduce micro-credit schemes to some of the poorest communities in Arkansas.
But fame has its pitfalls. On a recent trip to China Prof Yunus woke up to headlines screaming that he had criticised the ruling Communist party.
"I thought 'oh my god what will happen to me'. I was terrified. But China is in real trouble. Some parts of the country are zooming ahead and others are stuck. Their [anti-poverty] institutions are not working. The central bank has invited me to start a Grameen Bank. I'll be among the first foreign banks in China."
In numbers
$1bn The total amount lent to poor Bangladeshi people by Grameen Bank
7m The number of mainly women borrowers from villages in Bangladesh
99% The proportion of loans granted that are either refinanced or repaid in full
$450 The monthly salary of Professor Yunus
A Multi-Media Case Study
3. A Business Case for Rural Telecommunications
3.2 A business case for rural telecommunications 3.3 Current operators and competitive environment 3.4 Regulatory constraints 3.1 The telecommunications sector in Bangladesh 9 Bangladesh is among the poorest countries in the world. The UNDP lists it as number 144 according to the Human Development Index, a composite of development and human development indicators (Sierra Leone has the lowest index, 175; and Canada has the best, 1). The per capita income is $240 USD10 (1998), whereas the adjusted rural per capita income is estimated at 80% of the national (Kayani and Dymond, 1997). Agriculture accounts for 32% of GDP and more than two-thirds of all employment. The manufacturing sector's share of GDP remains at 11% (1996/97), while the services sector is burgeoning and accounts for over 40%. Life expectancy is 58 years. Approximately 53% of the population are illiterate, over 80% live in rural areas, and about 47% are still living below the poverty line.
The Bayes report includes reference to a recent publication produced jointly by the World Bank and Bangladesh Center for Advanced Studies (BCAS) which presented the limitations of telecom services in Bangladesh (World Bank and BCAS, 1998). We copy a summary of indicators that provide a general picture of the telecommunications sector there:
From Monopoly to Market Bangladesh is in the awkward stage of moving from a monopoly to a liberalized telecommunications environment. In this transition, there are numerous obstacles that are symptomatic of the difficulty associated with the transition in the absence of an independent regulatory body. The following excerpt from the Bayes et.al. (1999) report summarizes the situation precisely:
The Fifth Plan The woes of the telecom sector in Bangladesh are the consequences of inadequate investments in the past. The International Telecom Union (ITU) has urged the government to recognize basic telecom service as a human right.
are in the grip of a mismanaged state policy. " (World Bank and BCAS, 1998). The Government's Fifth Plan document deals succinctly with past performance. Bayes et.al. (1999) report that: "Up to June 1997, the total number of telephone lines stood at 463,185 in the public sector and 21,000 in the private sector. The private sector is confined mainly to various thanas and villages. From a paltry 2000 in 1994/95, the number of cellular phones had risen to 39,000 by 1996/97. During the 1995 period, 95,000 digital lines were installed in Dhaka. In the same period, 41,250 new digital lines were installed in Chittagong (the main port city). With the support of the BTTB, Internet connections were installed on a private initiative in 1995/96." (p.9) According to the Bayes et.al. report, allocations to this sector have started to grow, and the Fifth Five Year Plan prepared by the Planning Commission in 1998 is expected to allocate funding as follows:
For an in-depth review of the Fifth Five Year Plan (1997-2002), we provide excerpts from the Bayes (1999) report, including Fifth Plan Objectives, Fifth Plan Strategies and Projections on Village Phones and Poverty Reduction. The Bayes et.al. report is coherent with the findings of this report:
3.2 A business case for rural telecommunications Rural telecommunication planners tend to focus on several key factors in order to establish and analyze the business case scenario:
A review of indicators from Bangladesh shows how unique this context is 12:
Per capita income: $220/year13 average with a lower average of $171/year for rural areas (among the lowest in the world) Cost per line: As low as $1,000/line (among the lowest in the world for implementation) Topography: Flat river delta with recurrent flooding Teledensity: Between 0.2 and 0.3/100 people (among the lowest world-wide) Willingness to pay: 54% of Grameen Bank member phone users in the current survey indicated that they were willing to spend between 100 to 300 Taka ($2 to $6 USD) for a three-minute phone call involving a financial matter with a family member overseas, and 27% said they were willing to spend between 300 to 600 Taka ($6 to $12.25 USD) for this kind of call. Given an average reported monthly income of 5,000 Taka ($102 USD) for respondents' households, these figures represent significant proportions of monthly household income ranging from 2% to 12%. Consumer surplus: The Bayes study shows savings of no less than 70 Taka per call, which is a very high figure (Bayes et.al.1999). Survey findings for our report show savings of between 132 to 490 Taka ($2.70 to $10 USD) for calls that substitute for travel between a village and Dhaka. Facts and Figures
Estimated Demand for Rural Telephone Lines The above facts would suggest that there is a market for at least 100,000 rural telephones in Bangladesh, and this is a very conservative figure. Based on the International Telecommunications Union's (ITU) typical model for rural service, we can expect that people in rural Bangladesh will spend not less than 1.5% of GDP per capita on telecommunication services (ITU, 1994) "if they are appropriately deployed" (Kayani & Dymond, 1997: 9). Kayani and Dymond (1997) estimate rural income at $171 USD per person per year (based on an estimate of an overall GDP per capita of $220 USD17). This suggests $2.57 USD per capita expenditure. Given a conservative estimate of rural population of 80 million people, this translates into a potential rural telecommunication revenue of $205 million USD per year. And, as Kayani and Dymond (1997) note, rural expenditures can often exceed expectations because of the high cost of alternative forms of communication such as travel by vehicle. If we assume that each line needs to generate $1,000 USD per year to be financially viable, then this would equate to a total of 205,000 rural lines!
3.3 Current operators and competitive environment The following table summarizes the current telephone operators in Bangladesh, their license types, their technological solutions, and their client base coverage. Table 3.A Bangladesh rural telephone operators, licenses, technology and coverage
All telephone operators reported ambitious expansion plans; however, all are constrained by an interconnection bottleneck with BTTB. At the time of our visit (October 1999), the four GSM mobile operators were finalizing an agreement with BTTB that would allow them to become investors in a switching upgrade. This would enable them to expand their interconnections and respond to the urban and rural market demand. A further indication of the scope for a competitive market is the high elasticity of demand for rural phone calls. In other words, people are aware of price differences and are willing to walk some distance to save a few Taka on a single phone call. We witnessed how one road-side PCO operator (just outside Dhaka district) offered different phone rates through different phones (BTTB line and GrameenPhone mobile) for different call destinations at different times of the day. The following chart demonstrates the different rates that may be charged by service providers: Table 3.B Range of telephone charges: high elasticity of demand
In Comilla District, during the period of our research, GrameenPhone did not have a direct connection to Dhaka. Instead, calls must go though Chittagong, thus making a call to Dhaka an expensive long-distance call. In this situation, only the calls made with VP service to Chittagong were more competitive as were the international incoming calls, both of which were charged at Tk.5/minute. Table 3.C Range of telephone charges caused by infrastructure and rate structure
This variable price situation is bound to improve when GrameenPhone authorizes a flat Tk.15/minute rate for all NWD calls. The two licenses granted for rural telephone provision in Bangladesh effectively provide BRTA and Sheba Telecom with monopolistic rights to service the north and south portions of the country respectively. The fact that both licenses give exclusive rights for a 25-year period suggests an assumption: at the time of granting the licenses, rural telephony did not appear to BTTB to offer a profitable business case. However, our conclusions suggest that there is a very good business case for rural telephony, and both BRTA and Sheba Telecom stand to gain substantial profits if and when they can address the interconnection problems with BTTB. In contrast, the business case for the urban cellular market is more evident. The urban environment is highly competitive, and the projections for growth are substantial. For example, GrameenPhone has a target to double its urban subscription base every year for the next few years. Moreover, the demand for mobile phones is so large that several GSM operators have succeeded in marketing cell phones that only interconnect to other mobile phones. This is effectively creating a parallel phone system that does not rely on the BTTB trunk. All phone operators, urban and rural, are constrained by the limited number of interconnections provided by BTTB. In addition, they are subject to a monopolistic control by BTTB that limits revenue sharing arrangements for ISD calls and denies them for NWD calls. Also, a refusal by BTTB to allow other technologies to be used, such as VSAT, is a further restriction. There have been many calls for a review of interconnection agreements and revenue sharing arrangements. The lack of an independent regulator has thus far allowed BTTB to maintain a monopolistic behaviour in these two areas. In April 1998, GrameenPhone accepted an arrangement involving no revenue sharing with BTTB's network, although this agreement contradicted international norms and the Government's official policy (GrameenPhone, 1998). While this phenomenon is a clear constraint, evidence from other countries suggests that market forces could eventually overcome this situation. The resident representative of the World Bank to Bangladesh described the country's telecom challenge in a nutshell:
The telecom sector in Bangladesh is still regulated by the Telegraph Act of 1885, and the Wireless Act of 1933. These outdated acts are inadequate in dealing with Bangladesh's challenges today. Readers interested in a short review of Bangladesh's Telecommunications Laws and Regulations can view an attached summary.18 The Government has responded to the inappropriateness of laws with a proposed Bangladesh Telecommunications Act that the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications (MOPT) presented to private and public stakeholders during a workshop in December 1998 (GrameenPhone, 1998). However, as of December 1999, very little progress regarding the establishment of an independent telecom regulator had been made. Although Cabinet, in principle, approved the draft law in September to set up the Telecom Regulatory Board, it is yet to be placed before Parliament for passage. Critics say the draft approved by Cabinet is a watered down version of the one originally planned. However, once it is placed in Parliament, there may be a debate leading to some amendments. Meanwhile, the Telecom Regulatory Commission is doing the job of overseeing the sector during the interim period. It is headed by a BTTB official on deputation and is controlled by the MOPT. 9. This section is a summary of Chapter 2 of the report by Bayes, A. et.al. (1999) Village Payphones and Poverty Reduction: Insights from a Grameen Bank Initiative in Bangladesh |
Bangladeshi rickshaw riders ride past by a cinema festooned with advertisements for current screenings in Dhaka. The Dhaka-based film industry -- popularly known as Dhaliwood -- produces about 100 low-budget movies a year. Bangladesh authorities are on the hunt for a new breed of clean actors because a government crackdown on lewd movies has created a shortage of acting talent in the country.
Rickshaw
Rickshaws (or rickshas) are a mode of human-powered transport: a runner draws a two-wheeled cart which seats one or two persons. The word rickshaw came from Asia where they were mainly used as means of transportation for the social elite.
Runner pulled rickshaws have mainly been replaced in Asia by bicycle rickshaws. They are also common in Western cities like New York City. In London they are known as pedicabs. The term "rickshaw" is today commonly used for those vehicles as well, but this article deals exclusively with runner-pulled rickshaws.
The word "rickshaw" originates from the Japanese word jinrikisha (人力車, 人 jin = human, 力 riki = strength, 車 sha = vehicle), which literally means "human-powered vehicle."
History
The 1707 painting "Les deux carrosses" by Claude Gillot shows two rickshaw-like carts in a comical scene. These carts, known as vinaigrettes because of their resemblance to the wheel barrows of vinegar makers, were used in the streets of Paris in the 17th and 18th century. (Fresnault-Deruelle, 2005)
Rickshaws first appeared in Japan around 1868, at the beginning of the Meiji Restoration. They soon became a popular mode of transportation, since they were faster than the previously used palanquins (and human labor was considerably cheaper than using horses).
The identity of the inventor (if there was one) remains uncertain. Some sources give the American blacksmith Albert Tolman, who is said to have invented the rickshaw around 1848 in Worcester, Massachusetts for a missionary; others claim that Jonathan Scobie (or W. Goble), an American missionary to Japan, invented rickshaws around 1869 to transport his invalid wife through the streets of Yokohama.
Still others say the rickshaw was designed by an American Baptist minister in 1888. This is undoubtedly incorrect, for an 1877 article by a The New York Times correspondent in Tokyo stated that the "jin-riki-sha, or man-power carriage" was in current popular use, and was probably invented by an American in 1869 or 1870.
A rumour currently circulating in the United Kingdom credits Richard Shaw, an unemployed taxi driver from Birmingham, as the inventor of the rickshaw. However, given that the rickshaw was in existence long before taxis were invented, this is highly unlikely.
Japanese sources often credit Izumi Yosuke, Suzuki Tokujiro, and Takayama Kosuke, who are said to have invented rickshaws in 1868, inspired by the horse carriages that had been introduced to the streets of Tokyo shortly before.
By 1872, some 40,000 rickshaws were operating in Tokyo; they soon became the chief form of public transportation in Japan. (Powerhouse Museum, 2005; The Jinrikisha story, 1996)
Around 1880, rickshaws appeared in India, first in Simla and then, 20 years later, in Calcutta (now Kolkata). Soon after, rickshaws appeared in many big cities in Southeast Asia; pulling a rickshaw was often the first job for peasants migrating to these cities.
In China, rickshaws were banned after the Communist takeover in 1949. (WebIndia, 2005)
It was thought that the mighty Spartans used rickshaw-like modes of transportation when they fought the Persians at the Gates of Thermopylae. This, however, has not been substantiated.
Country overview
Bangladesh
Rickshaws in Bangladesh are cycle-powered, and are available for hire throughout the country; Bangladesh's capital is sometimes called the "City of Rickshaws". However, increasing traffic congestion and the resulting collisions have led to the banning of cycle rickshaws on many major streets in the city. Still, in many parts of Old Dhaka, rickshaws are the only kind of vehicle that can travel through the narrow streets. Rickshaw-pullers are known as rikshaoala in Bengali.
Hong Kong
Rickshaws were first imported from Japan to Hong Kong in 1874. They were a popular form of transport for many years, peaking at more than 3,000 in the 1920s. However, their popularity waned after World War II. No new licenses for rickshaws have been issued since 1975, and only a few old men—about four as of 2002—still ply their trade, mainly for tourists.
India
- Kolkata
As of 2005, the last sizeable fleet of true rickshaws can be found in Kolkata (Calcutta), where the rickshaw puller union resisted prohibition.
Several major streets have been closed to rickshaw traffic since 1972, and in 1982 the city seized over 12,000 rickshaws and destroyed them. In 1992, it was estimated that over 30,000 rickshaws were operating in the city, all but 6,000 of them illegally, lacking a license (no new licenses have been issued since 1945).
In August 2005, the Communist government of West Bengal announced plans to completely ban rickshaws, resulting in protests and strikes of the pullers. (WebIndia, 2005)
They have finally officially been banned in November 2006 by an ordinance of the West Bengal government along with so far pending government promises of rehabitating the poor rickshaw pullers.
A very efficient electric cycle rickshaw has been developed which can reduce the drugery of rickshaw puller and also give him an extra income.[1]
- Matheran
Matheran, India is a tourist hill station near Mumbai. It is an eco-sensitive zone where motor vehicles are banned so man-pulled rickshaws are still one of the major forms of transport there.
Republic of Ireland
Dublin first saw the humble rickshaw on its streets in 1996, a rickshaw company based in Canada set up a fleet of 20 rickshaws, building them from tubular steel, Dublin people used to call them the becks rickshaws on account of their advertising, however this company was actually called the original rickshaw company. The people of Dublin, both locals and tourists alike, were surprised at first to see the Far Eastern concept in Ireland. Later that year 12 pedicab rickshaws were imported by a wine club owner named B. McDonald who started Pedicabs Ireland.
Rickshaws were a common mode of transport in urban areas in the 19th and early 20th centuries. However, rickshaws were gradually replaced by cycle rickshaws (beca in Malay). Cycle rickshaws were also ubiquitous up to the 1970s in Malaysian cities. Since then, rapid urbanization has increased demand for more efficient public transport, resulting in dwindling rickshaw numbers.
Madagascar
Rickshaws, known as pousse-pousse, are a common form of transport in a number of Malagasy cities. They are often brightly decorated.
South Africa
The many registered Zulu rickshaw pullers, with their gigantic hats and colourful clothing, are a major tourist attraction in the city of Durban.
Pakistan
Cycle rickshaws and jin ricksaws have officially been outlawed in Pakistan since the late 50s/early 60s. The country remains home to a large number of auto-rickshaws.
United Kingdom
Pedicab rickshaws have been operating on the streets of Soho. There are reports of 80000 operating in and around the environs of West London.
United States
In many major cities, because yellow cabs licenses medallions are artificially capped, bicycle rickshaws have been used for about a decade.
Vietnam
In the downtown areas of Vietnamese big cities, rickshaws are used as a mean of transportation, mostly for tourism.
Tourist attractions
Rickshaws are a tourist attraction in the Asakusa region of Tokyo; in the main temple area of Kyoto; in tourist heavy areas of Kamakura; on Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong; on Cijin Island in Kaohsiung; in areas of London's Chinatown, Ottawa's Byward Market; in downtown Toronto; in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam). In all of these places, they are mainly for tourists.
Books, films, TV, Music
An early Rudyard Kipling story has the title The Phantom Rickshaw (1885). In it a young Englishman has a romance aboard a ship bound for India. There he marries another woman and his original love dies of a broken heart.
The 1936 novel Luotuo Xiangzi by Lao She describes the life of a rickshaw runner in Beijing in the 1920s. The English version Rickshaw Boy became a U.S. bestseller in 1945; it was an unauthorized translation that added a happy ending to the story. In 1982, the original version was made into a film of the same title.
The 1953 Bollywood film Do Bigha Zameen, directed by Bimal Roy, describes the fate of an impoverished farmer who becomes a rickshaw puller in Kolkata.
In the episode The Bookstore of the American sitcom Seinfeld, Kramer and Newman import rickshaws to New York City, for the purpose of running a business. They intend to employ members of the city's homeless population; however, one steals their rickshaw. The two recover the rickshaw, and Newman forces Kramer to transport him uphill, a voyage Kramer is unable to make.
In Pearl S. Buck's 1931 novel The Good Earth, hero Wang Lung leaves his land to travel southward during a drought. He ends up in the city of Kiangsu, where he becomes a rickshaw puller in order to support his family.
In 2006 Documentary film Men of burden Pedeling towards a Horizon Set in the city of Pondicherry, a Union Territory in South East India, the Documentary film uncovers the story of disappearing Cycle rickshaw drivers living in abject poverty.
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Bangladeshi Beggars
One of the most difficult things for first-time visitors to South Asia to experience is the number of beggars who wander in city traffic, rapping on the window or reaching into the car demanding alms. It's a fact of life in cities like Dhaka, where traffic lights are slow; you often have to wait for five or 10 minutes at a traffic stop as one or more beggars, often children or the disabled, stand by your window until you're able to drive away. Your instinct is to give them alms, but this causes two problems. First, it's seen by other beggars, who then swarm your car and start banging for their share. Second, many beggars actually work for syndicates in which the money is kicked up to local criminals, who often use the money to bribe the police. So in general the only way to leave with a clear conscience is to make a donation to a legitimate charity.
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