The kitchen market has eased up a little to the relief of the consumers. Vegetables that were selling at Tk 80 -100 per kilogram a week ago ---in fact, for months ---are now priced Tk 10-40 less. However, the prices of rice, pulse, cooking oil, coarse flour and items that are imported have remained stable. The only exception is onion, the price of which has increased.
There are two versions of what lies behind the current price fall of vegetables. One is the increased supply from farm level in different vegetable-growing areas. The other is monitoring of market by students. That the supply chain was severely disrupted due to the turmoil the country found itself in over the students' quota reform protest which later on turned into a non-cooperation movement. There was supply shortage and also a drastic squeeze in demand from the consumers. Thus the supply crunch did not lead to an abnormal price hike even during those heady days.
Although the supply chain is yet to be fully restored because transport workers are apprehensive of dacoity on way to urban centres from the field level, vegetables have abundant supply in the market. Yet this does not wholly explain the current decrease in price of vegetables. Of the several duties students have volunteered to undertake, market monitoring is one. They visit markets in groups to assure traders of their full support in ending the extortion culture. Transport workers and traders are happy that they are no longer required to pay extortion money en route the commodities' destinations. Even a hawker selling fruits rejoiced over his non-payment of the Tk 500 he had to pay routinely to a lineman appointed by the law enforcement agency and local political lord. He explains why he can sell his wares a bit cheaper.
This is a development for all to relish. The Directorate of National Consumer Rights Protection (DNCRP) has also appreciated the merit of students' positive intervention in the market. Quite rightly, it has expressed its willingness to work with students to establish an extortion-free market regime in the country. Both increased supply and monitoring by students have contributed to ease the market volatility to some extent. But it has brought to the fore a plain truth that the country's trade was vitiated by a nexus of law enforcement agency and social parasites. They used to collect illegal toll money at different points right from the source of the supply chain up to the destination.
Thus by the time commodities reached retail shops, the price for procurement of the stuffs went up beyond the rational level. It was the consumers who had to bear the brunt. Now that students have shown the way, the good work must not be allowed to slip away. Building on it to give it an institutional shape is the task of the time. Reportedly, a new set-up of extortionists is trying to take over the empty field. Happily, students are quite aware of such ill manoeuvring and they have requested retailers to inform them who the new extortionists are.
Students have started the process. Let it be carried to its logical culmination in order to bring sanity to the domestic market. It is quite possible to clean the Augean stables if there is collective vigilance against such illegal activities. No coteries of businesses or the parasites who have pocketed unearned money in the process will be given to enjoy a field day. The DNCRP should seize the initiative and extend the monitoring of the letters of credit and compare costing, taking into account the transportation expenditure, relative to the prices of imported commodities in the international market. This will leave no leeway to manipulate market and hike prices at will. Inflation can thus be contained to a large extent.
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