Photo : Collected
Not only the lower class, but also the middle class is suffering from the abnormal increase in the prices of daily commodities in the market. Regrettably, the sellers have skyrocketed the prices of the products which have sufficient production and stock, with lame excuses.
In such a situation, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has directed the State Minister for Commerce to strictly monitor the market. He gave these instructions in the cabinet meeting held under his chairmanship at the Prime Minister's Office on Monday. Needless to say, due to lack of supervision, the prices of daily commodities like oil, sugar, flour and eggs are in this condition. The information that there is sufficient stock of most of the daily commodities in the market has been published in various media. In fact, the consumer has to suffer due to the illegal stocking techniques of some traders. Identifying and punishing unscrupulous hoarders who are manipulating the prices of daily commodities will be an effective way to control the market. The National Directorate of Consumer Protection, however, says that besides continuing to monitor product prices to make them affordable, it has been intensified around Eid al-Adha. But in reality, no reflection is seen.
Unpleasant but true, no statutory rules are operating in the market now; The market is operating mainly at the whim of some unscrupulous traders and institutions. The sellers are keeping the prices as they their wish without paying attention to any price list fixed by the government. In some wholesale and retail markets, the price list is not available. It is natural that dishonest businessmen will take advantage of such a chaotic situation with the price list of daily commodities. Although there is no current supply crisis in the country, there needs to be an investigation into how a section of unscrupulous importers and traders are destabilizing the commodity market.
It is a matter of regret that in the past, some products including edible oil, sugar, onion were heavily manipulated, but no visible action was taken against the culprits. It encourages others. What is more worrying is that even after pricing the product, it has not been implemented. If this situation continues, consumers will be stressed instead of relieved in the coming Eid. So, this manipulation must be stopped by any means. In fact, timely strong action is needed to stop syndicate manipulation. It should not be forgotten that the common and low-income people suffer the most due to skyrocketing prices of daily commodities. Everything must be done so that they can buy daily commodities at a fair price. It has been observed that whenever a crackdown has been conducted against unscrupulous businessmen, the inactivity of business syndicates has increased. The crisis in related products has become more dire. This has increased the suffering of consumers. Observing the overall situation, it is clear that the complexity of controlling the commodity market is increasing. Therefore, practical steps should be taken to solve these problems. Effective measures should also be taken to investigate the collusion of dishonest traders with dishonest officers and employees of the market supervision organization.
Messenger/Fameema
