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MULTAN, Jan 14 (APP):The demand for boiled eggs has been soar as the weather turned intensely cold, and most of the child vendors have started their part-time work selling boiled eggs in the city and suburban areas.
Hundreds of preteen children turned to the seasonal business to support their families by selling boiled eggs. The child vendors can be seen hawking boiled eggs on severely cold and foggy evenings on the main roads, streets, and other public places like markets, railway stations, and bus terminals. The girls and boys of about eight to ten years of age usually prefer city areas like shopping plazas, markets, and tea shops, while the boiled egg vendors of teenagers and adults cover the bus stands and suburban areas of the city.
Talking to APP here on Sunday, a child vendor named Suleman said that he was eleven years old and that his father had passed away four years ago. He said that his mother gave him three dozen boiled eggs every night, through which he managed to earn about Rs 1,000 per day. He said that he has two elder daughters and an elderly mother, adding that earning from boiled eggs was the only source of income for the family.
Suleman said that boys hostels were the main market for his business, where all eggs were sold in two to three hours, and then he returned home. He informed me that he was also continuing studies in fifth grade at a local government school in the morning.
Another child vendor, Maryam, said that she covers the wholesale market of medicines at Clock Tower Chowk and sells more than two dozen boiled eggs every day. She said that some shopkeepers gave her extra money on humanitarian grounds, which helped her save more money. She said that she was not the only child vendor in her family, as her two preteen brothers were also doing the same work.
Naveed, a teenager vendor at MDA Chowk, told APP that he managed to earn some extra money daily as most of the people paid him more than the actual price of an egg. He said that “it’s far better to sell eggs than to beg.” He said that he planned to expand his business in the next season by setting up a cart at the chowk.
He also lamented that some of the boys refused to pay after taking boiled eggs and fled away on their motorcycles, while others paid less than the actual price. He said that the business of boiled eggs requires less effort and investment, and there are also zero chances of loss in this business.
A citizen, namely Hamza Riaz, said that he felt pity seeing these preteen and teenager children selling boiled eggs in cold weather. He said that he always paid extra money to child vendors to help them financially and also suggested that they at least cover them with woolen clothes to protect them from the cold.
It is pertinent to mention here that eggs were being sold at Rs 35 per egg at the shops, while boiled eggs were being sold at Rs 50 to 55 at different locations in the city. Some of the vendors informed us that they had sold boiled eggs for Rs 20 to Rs 30 last year, but now the rates of eggs in the open market have increased.