‘bKash Didi’ Munni Barua’s story featured on CNN

Munni Barua is quite a familiar face to many people of Sabujbagh area in the capital. Known as ‘bKash Didi’, her struggling story of becoming a successful entrepreneur has recently gained prominence beyond the border of the country. The life chronicles of Munni, a female agent of bKash, was featured in a short documentary by renowned international television network CNN.

In the documentary, Munni was seen sharing her experience about how a woman overcame all socio-economic hurdles to take responsibility of her family, reads a press statement.

She said, “I am a familiar face in the locality. But I wish more people would appreciate my journey that how far a woman can go utilising her willpower for the wellbeing of her children and herself.” Apart from setting up own business with firm determination, she also succeeded to enroll her two children into Jahangirnagar University.

Munni came to Dhaka with her family back in 1996. With the income of her husband’s grocery store, their life was going well. But following the untimely death of her husband in 2012 from a stroke, she and her two children suddenly fall into darkness. “On those days, I faced a lot of barriers while running the shop. Eventually losing the shop, I even had to sell groceries on a roadside cart,” she said with a grim face.

She continued, “Later, I started working as a bKash agent, and my days started to look brighter. Being a bKash agent, now I have the opportunity to help people to make their transactions more easy, secure and convenient. You don’t have to go to the bank, you don’t need to stand in line, and transactions can be done anytime – day or night.”

Munni also told CNN, “Many call me ‘bKash Didi’ because they get my help to transact their money even in the odd hours in case of emergency.” Like bKash Didi, there are about 330,000 bKash agents within walking distance of people’s home all across the country.