Govt to come down heavily on illegal rice hoarders

Profiteering in such inhuman manner by capitalising on food shortage is reprehensible

The government has directed the law enforcement agencies and deputy commissioners (DC) to arrest illegal rice hoarders in the country. The directive comes in the wake of introducing open market sales (OMS) of coarse rice at Tk. 30 per kg, double the previous year’s price, across the divisional and district towns in the country.

However, the decision to get tougher on illegal hoarders should have come earlier since the rice trading sector in some way being dangerously manipulated by a syndicate. The Food Minister was present at the meeting leading to issuing of the directive. The Commerce Minister too has blamed the rice mill owners and traders for hiking rice prices to put the government in trouble. He directed the DCs and superintendents of police (SPs) of various districts to arrest the chairman of Bangladesh Rice Mill Association along with the association’s general secretary, for stocking additional rice at their warehouses.

In tune with his directive, law enforcement agencies have recently conducted a drive at the chairman’s warehouses in Kushtia and Naogaon and fined him Tk. 50,000 for illegally stocking additional rice. If the chairman of an important organisation indulges in such crime – what are his association cronies doing?

Profiteering in such inhuman manner by capitalising on food shortage situation is highly reprehensible.

The point, however, the demand for our staple food rice is continually shooting up. Given this year’s unprecedented back-to-back natural disasters there is not only a shortage in production – thousands of acres of crop were washed away. The said association or the unholy syndicate took full advantage of the situation by hoarding and then subsequently hiking the price to create a manmade crisis in the country. Moreover, these unscrupulous rice traders are also involved in spreading rumours over the shortage of rice through their syndicate. By now this has already resulted in creating a nationwide panic.

We expect the law enforcement agencies to conduct the drive throughout every nook and cranny of the country. That said - the government should also focus to bring discipline in the rice sector, and make it free from the clutches of corrupt traders.

Govt to come down heavily on illegal rice hoarders

Profiteering in such inhuman manner by capitalising on food shortage is reprehensible

The government has directed the law enforcement agencies and deputy commissioners (DC) to arrest illegal rice hoarders in the country. The directive comes in the wake of introducing open market sales (OMS) of coarse rice at Tk. 30 per kg, double the previous years price, across the divisional and district towns in the country. However, the decision to get tougher on illegal hoarders should have come earlier since the rice trading sector in some way being dangerously manipulated by a syndicate. The Food Minister was present at the meeting leading to issuing of the directive. The Commerce Minister too has blamed the rice mill owners and traders for hiking rice prices to put the government in trouble. He directed the DCs and superintendents of police (SPs) of various districts to arrest the chairman of Bangladesh Rice Mill Association along with the associations general secretary, for stocking additional rice at their warehouses. In tune with his directive, law enforcement agencies have recently conducted a drive at the chairmans warehouses in Kushtia and Naogaon and fined him Tk. 50,000 for illegally stocking additional rice. If the chairman of an important organisation indulges in such crime what are his association cronies doing? Profiteering in such inhuman manner by capitalising on food shortage situation is highly reprehensible. The point, however, the demand for our staple food rice is continually shooting up. Given this years unprecedented back-to-back natural disasters there is not only a shortage in production thousands of acres of crop were washed away. The said association or the unholy syndicate took full advantage of the situation by hoarding and then subsequently hiking the price to create a manmade crisis in the country. Moreover, these unscrupulous rice traders are also involved in spreading rumours over the shortage of rice through their syndicate. By now this has already resulted in creating a nationwide panic. We expect the law enforcement agencies to conduct the drive throughout every nook and cranny of the country. That said - the government should also focus to bring discipline in the rice sector, and make it free from the clutches of corrupt traders.