Food situation

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FOOD prices in the country are leaping up to say the least. Poor people make chapatis from ata (wheat flour) to survive. Under the worst circumstances such as during the countrywide on-going floods, they live only on chapatis and little else. But when the price of that basic survival food leaps up within days, then there are indeed reasons for deep worry. For the price of ata has shot up in the last couple of weeks. The price of rice has similarly increased.
Thus, the conditions of common people should be easy to understand. Nearly half of the country is under flood waters . People on a large scale are facing damages of their properties, homesteads, croplands and assets. Work opportunities have shrunk largely under the flooded conditions and, thus, also the purchasing power of the affected people. Thus, it is conspicuous that a vast number in the country are without disposable resources at their disposal to buy foodgrains at the soaring prices.
The government has to take up appropriate steps to build up a comfortable stock of foodgrains while stepping up its open market operations, as and where necessary. The measures it has taken up so far are positive and now there should be follow-up actions, keeping the dynamics of the situation into consideration.
On its part, the government has started import operation of foodgrains. This has to be continued. Food at affordable prices will have to be sold to people in the post-flood period. If this is done, the worst crisis can be avoided. The flood affected people in many cases have turned into asbsolute paupers. Even if foodgrains are attempted to be sold to them at subsidised prices, they would not be able to purchase them. Only free distribution of foodgrains to them over a period of time will help them to avoid starvation. Thus, government should aim to keep good stocks of foodgrains to maintain smoothly a free foodgrain distribution programme in the coming months.
Enayet Karim
Gulshan
Dhaka