The prices of essential items are rising in Tangail, making it difficult for people to afford their basic needs. The prices of chicken, eggs, and vegetables are particularly high.
The administration has taken various measures to control the market, but their impact has not yet been felt.
Retailers are selling these products at higher prices, claiming that they cannot get them at government-set prices from wholesalers, while consumers are facing the brunt of it.
Broiler chicken now costs Tk 200 per kg, onions have jumped to Tk 100 per kg, and prices of vegetables have increased by Tk 10 to 30 per kg in the last week. Fish, meat, eggs, and other essentials are also more expensive.
Reportedly, there have been several incidents of quarrels between shopkeepers and buyers over high prices.
To control the market, the government fixed the prices of eggs, potatoes, local onions, and soybean oil last month. According to the government-fixed prices, the price of each farm egg is Tk 12, the retail price of potatoes is Tk 35-36, the price of local onions is Tk 64-65, and the price of bottled soybean oil is Tk 169 per litre.
However, even after a month, the impact of those prices has not been felt in the markets of Tangail. Almost every product is being sold at a higher price.
Potatoes are being sold at Tk 50 to 60, and onions are being sold at Tk 95 to 100. In addition, the prices of the same product differ in different markets. According to retailers, they are not selling at government-fixed prices due to the non-reduction of prices at the wholesale level.
This correspondent spoke to a buyer, Mitu, during a visit to the town’s Park Bazar.
She bought 1.5 kg of chicken for Tk 290, 1 kg of onion for Tk 95, 500 grams of garlic for Tk 100, 125 grams of cumin for Tk 100, and 1 litre of soybean oil for Tk 170. She had to forgo buying fish as she needed to buy vegetables.
She lamented the ever-increasing prices, despite the government's announcement of a reduction. She urged the district administration to intervene.
The vegetable market is also unstable. Beans are being sold at Tk 200, yardlong beans at Tk 120, okra at Tk 80 and eggplants at Tk 100 at the town’s Choyani Bazar. Eggs are being sold at Tk 55 per quartet.
The price of eggplants in the Park Bazar is Tk 80 per kg. In regards to the price difference, a vegetable seller named Md Babul said, “The price is high - take it if you want - do not take it if you do not want to. I cannot answer so many questions.”
Buyer Md Nurul Islam, a resident of Adalat Para, said, “The prices of all the items are increasing. No one is monitoring the markets. It is becoming very difficult to shop for daily necessities.”
Chicken traders Md Rayhan and Jibon said that the prices are higher in the wholesale market, so they have to sell at a higher price. Regarding the price difference of different markets, they said that it depends on the market expenses.
Md Sohrab, a resident of Thanapara area, who came to buy chicken, said, “Traders are asking for whatever price they want and consumers are also buying. If the market was monitored, product prices would not vary at different markets.”
Md Shafikul Islam, a chicken trader in the Park Bazar, said, “The import of chicken is low. The price is high in the wholesale market. So we have to sell it at a higher price. The price will increase further in the future.”
Rashedul Islam, a sales representative of a pharmaceutical company who came to the market, said, “I buy eggs and vegetables instead of fish and meat because the prices of fish and meat are high. However, I came to find that the price of eggs has increased further. Vegetable traders are asking for whatever price they want. It is very difficult for families with a limited budget to survive.”
In this regard, Tangail District Magistrate Md Kaisarul Islam said, “We have conducted several meetings to control the market. In addition, drives are being conducted at various places in the district. We will continue the drives to keep the prices under control.”
