Govt plans digital database to monitor prices, combat cartel
Monday, 21 December 2009
Mehdi Musharraf Bhuiyan
The government has planned to monitor prices of 50 essential commodities through a central database updated digitally in real time in an effort to embolden market surveillance and track down manipulators, officials said Saturday.
Commerce ministry officials said the database would be launched within the next four months with assistance from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and made available online.
The real time database of the items would digitally track down latest price situation in cities and all 64 districts in the country and their global rates in major commodity hubs around the world.
The move comes following repeated failures by successive governments to contain "unexplained and artificial" rises of major food and commodity prices in the market.
Due to lack of real evidences and monitoring the government has so far failed to clamp down on the members of the so-called 'syndicate' accused of manipulating prices at the expense of poor and middle income people.
Officials said commerce ministry is currently looking to recruit a private firm to develop the sophisticated digital database, with UNDP doing the procurement job as part of its 'Access 2 Information (A2I)' aided programme.
"We have already started receiving tender documents from the interested companies. Hopefully, a work order will be issued within the next 15 days", a UNDP official said.
"We are expecting the central database system to be operational within four months after issuing the work order", he said.
A commerce ministry official said the database would mostly monitor prices of essential food items nationwide in collaboration with web teams of offices of all 64 district commissioners.
Officials said at the end of the initial trial time of approximately six months, the database would be open to public through online so that the people have access to any information on market prices of the 50 listed commodities.
UNDP would not comment on actual operational cost of the project.
The government has planned to monitor prices of 50 essential commodities through a central database updated digitally in real time in an effort to embolden market surveillance and track down manipulators, officials said Saturday.
Commerce ministry officials said the database would be launched within the next four months with assistance from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and made available online.
The real time database of the items would digitally track down latest price situation in cities and all 64 districts in the country and their global rates in major commodity hubs around the world.
The move comes following repeated failures by successive governments to contain "unexplained and artificial" rises of major food and commodity prices in the market.
Due to lack of real evidences and monitoring the government has so far failed to clamp down on the members of the so-called 'syndicate' accused of manipulating prices at the expense of poor and middle income people.
Officials said commerce ministry is currently looking to recruit a private firm to develop the sophisticated digital database, with UNDP doing the procurement job as part of its 'Access 2 Information (A2I)' aided programme.
"We have already started receiving tender documents from the interested companies. Hopefully, a work order will be issued within the next 15 days", a UNDP official said.
"We are expecting the central database system to be operational within four months after issuing the work order", he said.
A commerce ministry official said the database would mostly monitor prices of essential food items nationwide in collaboration with web teams of offices of all 64 district commissioners.
Officials said at the end of the initial trial time of approximately six months, the database would be open to public through online so that the people have access to any information on market prices of the 50 listed commodities.
UNDP would not comment on actual operational cost of the project.