UNB, Dhaka :
The move initiated by the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) ahead of Ramzan to sell five daily essentials for keeping the market under control has apparently failed to gain the desire momentum for various reasons, including ‘overpricing’ in some cases.
The TCB began selling the five daily essentials-soybean oil, sugar, red lentil, grams, and dates- on May 6 across the country for the convenience of people ahead of the holy month of Ramadan, but the response to the drive is very poor. Asked about the high pricing, TCB officials dismissed it saying that its commodities are of high quality and the prices of same quality essentials in the markets are more than TCB’s. They said a consumer can buy maximum 4 kgs of sugar (local), 4 kgs of lentil, 5 litres of soybean oil, 5 kgs of grams and one kg of date from TCB trucks, dealers or its sales centers.
Each litre of soybean oil, they said, is selling at Tk 85 while Tk 55 is fixed for each kg of sugar, Tk 55 for lentil, Tk 70 for gram and Tk 120 for each kg of date.
Although the state-owned trading house earlier had assured that the essentials could be available at 10 TCB sales centers, 2,784 dealers and 184 truck-mounted sale stations across the country, but many dealers are reportedly showed unwillingness
to receive their respective allocated commodities due to higher prices compared to the existing market rate. Besides, consumers are reportedly found reluctant to buy TCB’s essential commodities due to the high prices. A number of dealers expressed their disappointment as the TCB has fixed the prices of the five essentials almost same as to other market and even some are higher than the market prices.
In Khulna city, five dealers were asked to receive their allocated essentials but three of them did not collect that alleging that the TCB prices are higher. Dealer Shafiullah, who has been selling TCB commodities in front of Khulna DC office, told UNB that consumers do not buy sugar and grams due to the higher prices but they were buying date.
The move initiated by the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) ahead of Ramzan to sell five daily essentials for keeping the market under control has apparently failed to gain the desire momentum for various reasons, including ‘overpricing’ in some cases.
The TCB began selling the five daily essentials-soybean oil, sugar, red lentil, grams, and dates- on May 6 across the country for the convenience of people ahead of the holy month of Ramadan, but the response to the drive is very poor. Asked about the high pricing, TCB officials dismissed it saying that its commodities are of high quality and the prices of same quality essentials in the markets are more than TCB’s. They said a consumer can buy maximum 4 kgs of sugar (local), 4 kgs of lentil, 5 litres of soybean oil, 5 kgs of grams and one kg of date from TCB trucks, dealers or its sales centers.
Each litre of soybean oil, they said, is selling at Tk 85 while Tk 55 is fixed for each kg of sugar, Tk 55 for lentil, Tk 70 for gram and Tk 120 for each kg of date.
Although the state-owned trading house earlier had assured that the essentials could be available at 10 TCB sales centers, 2,784 dealers and 184 truck-mounted sale stations across the country, but many dealers are reportedly showed unwillingness
to receive their respective allocated commodities due to higher prices compared to the existing market rate. Besides, consumers are reportedly found reluctant to buy TCB’s essential commodities due to the high prices. A number of dealers expressed their disappointment as the TCB has fixed the prices of the five essentials almost same as to other market and even some are higher than the market prices.
In Khulna city, five dealers were asked to receive their allocated essentials but three of them did not collect that alleging that the TCB prices are higher. Dealer Shafiullah, who has been selling TCB commodities in front of Khulna DC office, told UNB that consumers do not buy sugar and grams due to the higher prices but they were buying date.
