Why our consumers are powerless?

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CONSUMERS' associations in some countries, with millions of memberships, generate and wield formidable consumer power. Some of them deal with common essentials. Supposing the price of eggs rises by 15 pence in the UK outlets in a short period of time a consumer association dealing with the kitchen items can be expected to analyse whether there is any acceptable justification for this. If there is none, it may issue a call for the shopkeepers to immediately bring the price down to a reasonable level. If the call goes unheeded, then the association will issue a call to its members to avoid buying eggs at the higher price. As the very large and conscious membership, motivated by the association's leadership and activities, usually listen to the call for not buying, or buy less of the item, the shopkeepers lower the price of the perishable product. Only for a few days the producers and the sellers can afford to keep the price up and quickly realise that they have to lower the price to prevent swelling their losses.
Nothing even remotely resembles such a consumer association in Bangladesh. If a comparable consumers' association was active in Bangladesh the tyranny of the insensitive sellers raising prices at sweet will could be defeated long ago.
Nafisa Haider
DOHS,
Dhaka