Digital Haat launched for nationwide Eid cattle trading

The authorities have launched a digital marketplace for the trading of sacrificial cattle across Bangladesh during Eid-ul-Azha amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Staff CorrespondentSenior Correspond and bdnews24.com
Published : 13 July 2021, 02:26 PM
Updated : 15 July 2021, 07:50 PM

As many as 241 platforms have joined the marketplace at digitalhaat.net, created in a joint initiative of the fisheries and livestock ministry, ICT Division, e-Commerce Association of Bangladesh with technical help of the a2i programme at the Prime Minister’s Office.  

The marketplace was created by expanding the Dhaka city-based digital cattle market.

The customers can watch the cattle live and talk to the traders directly.

Besides ensuring physical distancing to reduce the risk of infection, the Digital Haat will help the customers find out the perfect animal for sacrifice while the traders will get a fair price, Fisheries and Livestock Minister SM Rezaul Karim hoped at its virtual inauguration on Tuesday.  

The traders will supply the cattle to the customers at least one day before the Eid, which will be observed on Jul 21. Slaughtering services are also available on the digital marketplace.     

The ministry said 157,288 cattle were sold via different online platforms until Monday.

Last year, the demand for sacrificial cattle on Eid was 11.8 million, but 9.4 million were sold due to the pandemic, according to Fisheries and Livestock Secretary Rawnak Mahmud. 

In another development, LGRD Minister Tazul Islam said the government will allow cattle markets to sit all over Bangladesh but the traders and customers must follow the health rules.

In a meeting on the management of waste from sacrificed cattle, he said the markets will have to arrange enough water and soap to ensure hand-washing by all.

The markets will also have one entrance and one exit each to ensure physical distancing through one-way visits.   

The government has lifted the lockdown over the coronavirus outbreak from Jul 15 to Jul 22 to allow the people celebrate the Eid.