Businessmen's role in price spiral

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RECENTLY one of the Advisors has accused the businessmen for their non co-operation in bringing down the prices of the essentials, despite the government effort and incentive provided to the traders and importers in the form of rebate in tariff. Therefore, I fully endorse the views expressed by the Advisor. Time has now come to bring the unscrupulous traders under the purview of the Task Force. One cannot understand how the prices of vegetables in the wholesale market (Arat) in Karwanbazar become double in the retail market adjacent to it. It is the wholesalers who manipulate the market in their favour to maximise their profit at the cost of the general public. It was reported in the newspapers that a farmer gets the price of a normal size green bottle gourd (Kadu) at around Taka 5.00 each at growers level, whereas the same one is being sold at Dhaka markets at Taka 20. It is the middlemen and the wholesalers (Aratdars) who take away the difference at the cost of the farmers and the consumers.
It is, therefore, necessary for the government to take over the operations of those wholesale markets perhaps at the initial period to be run by the BDR. After installing a policy guideline and streamlining the distribution and storage networks throughout the country the operation could be gradually handed over to the registered cooperative societies only and not to any individual. The farmers should be encouraged to form their own cooperative societies for distribution and storage of their products. The government should provide necessary finance in this respect. These businessmen have no respect or sympathy for the people and thrive on their undue profit motive only. Otherwise how do they use Formalin, DDT, chemicals, harmful dyes etc., with the fish, fruits and other food products which are virtually poisons?
Nowhere in the world perhaps food stuff are adulterated like this. Our laws are too lenient for the authorities to take any drastic action against these criminals. And the businessmen are taking full advantage of such weakness in the law.
Apart from so many other factors, presence of enormous amount of black money in the hands of individuals in hard cash could also be a reason for soaring inflation in the country. Therefore, measures like demonetization of five hundred taka notes may be considered to prevent excess flow of circulation of such black money in the market.

Mohammad Ataul Hoque
Dhaka