Glaring gap between words and deeds

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THE proverbial gap between the words and the deeds is glaring in Bangladesh. The ruling party's top functionaries pledged, time and again, that the reduction of prices would be their highest priority once they go to power. If words were deeds, it would not matter. But the plain truth is that the people see no sign of that. The government is failing to bring down the prices, the topmost priority set by the ruling party before the election.
It was on this pledge and assurance that the people gave the present ruling alliance a massive mandate. It got an easy sail to power. Even after the election results, the ruling party kept on harping that it would bring down the prices very soon.
But it is over a year since it took power. Where are the signs on the part of the AL-led alliance to bring the prices of essentials down to reasonable or rational levels? The government is hardly doing anything to materialise the election-time pledge. The voters expect the government to address the problem seriously. It should go for effective monitoring of prices, intervention, supervision and law enforcement, when and where necessary. Nothing short will quite attain the results. For redeeming its biggest election time commitment, the government has no option but to deliver.
Shireen Azad
Iqbal Road
Mohammadpur, Dhaka.