The stories of distress of the low-income families are one that continues to escalate in our society. The spike in price of essential food items has made life harder for the fixed earner groups, especially during this holy month of Ramzan.
Experts have observed the crises and explored root causes of this state of affairs. They called for cracking down on syndicates who seem to be the masterminds behind price hikes for essentials during Ramzan. Every year these syndicates of traders monopolise this type of catastrophe for their selfish interest. A senior research fellow at the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS) at webinar observed that the government hardly could put a dent by taking authoritarian steps against these very influential syndicate of traders, organised by Right to Food Bangladesh.
Other speakers at the event stressed the need for eradication of these syndicates and the peripheral extortion in transportation. For this, strong will of the government is needed, they said, adding it is not possible to control such powerful syndicates by only enacting legislation.
A country like Bangladesh must have stronger market management, said a research director of the Centre for Policy Dialogue. “A competitive market or a competitive price structure is absent here,” he evaluated. A well-planned, transparent and accountable supply chain is needed as well as an empowered competition commission, consumers’ rights commission and safe food authorities to address the weak market management symptoms. “Lack of factual and reliable inflation data would make it hard to implement proper steps,” said a professor at the University of Dhaka’s economics department.
On the other hand, the general secretary of Right to Food Bangladesh said it would be possible to reduce poverty by reducing the income gap between the cities and villages as well as the regional inequality while presenting the keynote paper. In the current scenario, the government must re-adjust its policy to control the price hike once and for all in the best interest of the citizenry.
