More border haats on India-Bangladesh frontier soon

At least six more border haats will soon come on the India-Bangladesh frontier--four along the northeast India state of Meghalaya and two along Tripura State.

Indian commerce ministry's Joint Secretary Bhupinder Singh Bhalla told a conference that a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the two countries on border haats expired in October 2013.

"It is now being reworked by inputs from both countries on the basis of the experience. The draft will be possibly discussed between commerce secretaries of the two countries in November," Bhalla told the conference organised by CUTS International.

"We don't see border haats as a substitute for normal duty-free bilateral trade, but this is a very useful system to promote trade between border regions," Bhalla said.

The CUTS International has produced a detailed report on the socio-economic impact of the border haats that was presented in a consultation conference at Assam's Guwahati on Wednesday.

"By the end of the year, the new MOU on border haats should be ready. After that the new border haats should come up because we have finalised the locations," Bhalla said.

Four of the new border haats will come up in Meghalaya-Bangladesh border and two in Tripura-Bangladesh border, he said.

At the consultation conference, stakeholders from Bangladesh and the Indian states of Tripura and Meghalaya demanded improvement in the infrastructure of the existing border haats.

Traders from border haats, presented at the conference, demanded more items to be included in the trading list -- and also an increase in the volume of permissible trade.

This bdnews24.com file photo shows a border haat at the India-Bangladesh border.

The CUTS report highlighted the need for electricity and water, better vendor sheds (to protect buyers and sellers during monsoon) and better currency exchange facilities.

Bangladesh MP Shirin Akhter, in whose constituency the Srinagar-Chagalnaiya border haat is located, narrated how she had to arrange for necessary funding to develop the approach road to the haat after it started.

"Local people's representatives on both sides should play a proactive role in ensuring that the border haats get necessary infrastructure," said Akhter.

The CUTS report indicated that the four existing border haats have led to substantial rise in income of border populations.

"Though the border haats function only once a week, local vendors by trading there are making substantial additions to their income . On the Indian side, such income accounts for  73 percent of their total  income on an average. On the Bangladesh side, trading in border haats is providing 30 percent of their monthly income," said Prithiviraj Nath, who presented the report .

He said more and more women are beginning to trade in the border haats.

CUTS Executive Director Bipul Chatterjee that the border haats are providing huge family savings for consumers in border areas.

"Villagers in Meghalaya and Tripura are saving three to four times the money by easily some Bangladesh products. Indian products coming from far would have cost them so much more," Chatterjee said.

He said that beyond economics, the border haats will help India and Bangladesh develop greater people-to-people contacts.

"That is already happening. So many divided families are using the haats to meet up."

Indian and Bangladesh officials who joined the conference said both countries will gain much from the CUTS report as they finalised the MOU for border haats.

World Bank has sponsored the CUTS study.

"We are looking at the border haats to develop closer trade between frontier regions of India and Bangladesh. The study should help us to fine tune the practice by analysing the experience so far," said Mohini Datt, World Bank's Operations Officer (Regional Integration) in South Asia.

Stakeholders like Bhanulal Das, a vendor at Srinagar border haat in Tripura argued for holding the trade at least thrice a week. Now they are held once a week only.

"If it is only once a week, there is a limit to how much we can earn. Why not make it thrice a week," Das said. 

Das was supported by the Bangladesh delegation and border haat vendors from Meghalaya.