Rising prices

The incessant increase in the prices of daily consumables has made life difficult for the poor. The prices of all basic essentials, from chicken to pulses and from sugar to edible oils have surged to newer heights. How can the ordinary people be expected not to feel the pain when the wound is being inflicted on almost a daily basis?

The pandemic is receding after wreaking havoc on lives and livelihoods of millions of people. However, this has brought no relief to the common citizens of the country with the prices of essentials soaring beyond their capabilities. What has added to their worries is the fact that there are no assurances from the authorities that the prices will come down anytime soon.

The worst hit happens to be people with limited income. What is more disappointing is that the authorities concerned not showing the urgency needed in solving the problems of the lower and middle classes. Only issuing statements from time to time cannot do the trick.

We often see the commerce ministry officials meeting with the traders and fixing the prices of the goods, but later the decision is not implemented. There are unscrupulous traders who raise prices arbitrarily. And apparently there is no one to check.  It is simply unacceptable that the authorities cannot make traders comply with the prices set at meetings with business leaders.

What is most unfortunate is the fact that price volatility, like those of onions and other essentials, is mostly man-made. Both farmers and consumers are deprived of fair price while middlemen and unscrupulous trading syndicates make the most of a market manipulated to their advantage. They could not care less if the fallouts of the pandemic have rendered a large number of people poorer or meagre income-earners. With lower purchasing power, many people are struggling to eke out a basic existence. In this crunch time, price hike hurts them most. Lower income forces them to make do with the bare minimum and the alternative to eggs or broiler chickens is next to nothing. So, if people belonging to the lower strata are compelled to sacrifice these cheap sources of protein too, the national health status will face a severe setback.

Media reports have revealed that prices of eggs and broiler chickens are tagged almost daily by a syndicate which controls the supply of such items according to its sweet will. The poor man's dish of pulse and rice is also not affordable

The impact of the price hike, however, to some extent, is different from that witnessed on previous occasions. This time the size of the population affected by the price-rise is bigger as in addition to poor and low-income people, the middle-class is also hit hard. The pandemic has also sapped much of the latter's financial strength. If the current price trend persists, the pace of economic recovery might lose steam since spending by the middle-class remains a key driver. The rise in the cost of living, as a natural outcome, would force members of this class to spend less on non-food items. 

We are going through some tough times and the authorities concerned needs to take concrete measures to stabilize the market and provide some relief to the masses. Strong government monitoring needs to be ensured to see what is causing this hike. Are there syndicates hoarding food essentials to create an artificial shortage and adding to the inflation? An estimate by an FAO expert puts the number of people in Bangladesh suffering from malnutrition at 2.6 crore. Hiking the price of food items now only adds to the problem, and as always it is the poor and the middle classes that will be affected the most.

The ongoing hike in prices of essentials is a chilling reminder of the structural problems facing the marketing of perishable food items in this country. Under these circumstances, government should take remedial measures as price hike is playing havoc with budget of the people in the absence of any corresponding increase in income and relief for the poor.