It is interesting to see that the government has formed some 37 market monitoring teams to tame inflation of foods at retail markets. The utility of such teams has proved futile so far. What is needed is to identify the reasons behind the occasional astronomical price hikes and then formulate appropriate policies to counter those. At times some recommendations were also made to the point but those were not followed by appropriate actions. So far nothing of significance has materialised for consumers because businesspeople, the section notorious for an unholy alliance, have a field day here. Presently, the administration is more concerned about the fallouts of the quota reform movement. Consumer interests which were hardly a priority even in normal times have been relegated to the back burner.
True, a burning issue such as the protest against the recruitment policy on government employment needs to be tackled head on because of the simple fact that ordinary students have come together to stage mass protests. This time it was about employment but the right to food is just as important as employment. A hungry stomach is the devil's workshop. The facts relating to essential food prices speak volumes for the Shylock-like mindset of every player in the supply chain to maximise profit where the administration proves powerless to stop the mindless fleecing of the consumers.
That prices of some food items have risen by 50 to 120 per cent almost overnight simply cannot be explained away on supply chain disruptions or external events. How can price of rice increase by Tk 3.0 to Tk 5.0 per kilogram, green chilli (a wholly domestically produced item) reach Tk600/kg, eggs (per dozen) jump to Tk180 - Tk190 per dozen over a 24-hour period from July 22-23? These are figures furnished by the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) and hence are considered to be conservative estimates. The quirk of food retail markets is that once prices rise, they seldom come down. The percentage of increase is usually in double-digits and the subsequent fall in single digits.
The authorities ought to realise that past interventions like forming investigative committees have failed and the monitoring team at the field level is a poor tool if it is not guided by strong policy support and will. Ministries and ministers are now suffering from trust deficit because promises had been made and not kept. Excuses have been made too often with little or no impact on the market because the stop-gap interventions have not borne fruit. Small and big traders have been fined paltry sums of money while the big fish have been left out of the net. Where policy changes are needed to be made, fines are levied to no effect. Because the financial penalty structure belongs to a bygone era and does not make any dent in the astronomical profits made at the cost of consumers.
At the end of the day, policies are viewed as being weak, ineffective and worst of all, as abetting this system that is morally repugnant but highly profitable in nature. The general perception is that the authorities are not too bothered about taking steps that would be beneficial for consumers because they refuse to take measures that would make a difference. Until that happens, traders will continue to raise prices of essentials on this or that pretext. Or, they may not even bother about making excuses for hiking prices because they know the government is preoccupied with other more pressing issues.
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