In the wake of sudden price hike of rice, the government has formed seven monitoring committees. The main aim is to pre-empt any nefarious plans by syndicates. Though the price rise has been seen in the case of fine rice only, with an increase of Tk. 5 to Tk. 7 per kg, the authority deserves praise for acting swiftly to counter any diabolical schemes that may result in an abrupt market crisis.

Such a man-made unscrupulous catastrophe was countered a month ago when certain unethical quarters began to spread rumours about scarcity of salt in the market, triggering a frenzied rush by the consumers. The law enforcers plus the city administration acted swiftly to snub out the falsehood which was used by some whole sellers to raise the price of salt.

Accepting that there are predatory sections which will not flinch at exploiting a situation to make a quick profit, we need to be alert at all times. The rice price monitoring teams will ascertain why the price rose in the case of fine rice though it has been conclusively established that the price rose since trucks laden with rice could not leave north Bengal on time.

Today it’s rice and in the future it may be some other essential and with Ramadan coming, there may be other vile attempts to manipulate markets to hoodwink the government and the consumers. While government teams are welcome the buyers also need to keep a close eye to detect any unlawful ways to increase price of items.

The market monitoring of each area falls under the jurisdiction of the ward commissioners and the newly elected ones will have to repay the kindness shown by the voters by ensuring price stability during Ramadan. As for syndicates that exploit the market, there has to be masterminds who need to be found out.

Price hikes do no happen without reason but in many cases there is a notorious scheme behind such a condition. Profiteers plus racketeers have been causing woes for the masses since independence with the 1974 famine directly linked to senseless hoarding by rapacious traders. Such illegal operations can only be halted when the roots are detected; fining or admonishing sellers in the markets won’t bring long term change.