The authorities
cannot sit idle in the name of free market economy, giving opportunity to some people to rip-off the hapless
consumers so uncaringly and cruelly
Price spurt of kitchen commodities
The prices of essentials that we consume everyday in our diets have been rising steadily in the markets for some time, but these prices have shot upwards over the last fortnight and this is the point of concern for the vast number of the middle and lower income people, let alone the poor people to whom even the daily necessities are actually luxury items.
You have to count on average at least Tk 60 or more to get a kg of any normal vegetable excepting some root vegetables. The protein sources such as fish, meat, poultry, eggs as well as legumes are also selling at much higher prices.
When the price situation is so, we do not see any headache about it among the relevant people in government who can do something about this. More than a month ago when the prices of vegetables were starting to rise, the commerce minister said at that time that due to rains the supply was inadequate and prices increased as a result; he assured that with the gradual departure of rain, everything would become normal. There is, however, no downpour noted in recent days, yet the price is not coming down and ironically, it is still following an increasing trend. According to some media reports, all businesses are now being controlled by syndicates who are in fact responsible for price rise despite the fact there is hardly shortage of the commodities. The consumers can hardly expect that businessmen, wholesalers or retailers, would miss the chance of exploiting the latest hike in prices of gas and electricity. Added to this state, when public servants would start receiving their enhanced salaries---in fact they are supposed to get the increase from the month of July as arrears---the price situation would likely become more difficult due to inflation thus caused or on mere speculation of increasing purchasing power of consumers.
In Bangladesh, there is law against undue profiteering and mechanism of market monitoring also. While it is absolutely necessary to bust the business syndicates through application of the proper laws, it is equally important to put in place constant bazaar monitoring so that prices of kitchen items can be helped to remain within the affordability of common people. The authorities cannot sit idle in the name of free market economy, giving opportunity to some people to rip-off the hapless consumers so uncaringly and cruelly.
