How the consumers in Bangladesh find themselves al the re reiving end has once again been brought to the fore by two news items carried in this newspapers yesterday. One of the reports shows the extent of consumer travail in economic terms through price indices. The other concerns the finance minister s lamentation over the common people's inability to receive any benefits of the tax relief given in the budget The consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB), an organisation working for the protection of consumers' rights, estimates that prices of essentials have recorded a rise of 14.86 per cent last month a>mpared to the corresponding month last year.

That is however the average rise in prices. During the last six months items like vegetables and rice have registered a spiralling price hike upto 34.02 and 25-63 per cent respectively. The budgetary provision of tax relief this time should have brought a down trend-in the prices of some of the goods of daily use. But so far there is no reflection of the tax cut on the price indices. Instead, in some cases, the prices are showing an upward trend. The CAB has taken serious exception to the fact that a section of traders are increasing prices "on one pretext or the other". The finance minister has no reason to savour such a development in the market

Now the question is how to ensure a fair deal to the consumers? Even the budgetary benefits for the commonman are robbed by a sellers market. Both the government and the people are cheated. In the face of such an organised market manipulation, the government and the common people need to devise effective means to defend their interests. That the gov eminent"s earlier decision to frame a consumers' rights law has been deferred is unfortunate. It will be treated by the wicked traders as a retraction by the government Actually we not only need such a strong law but also regular market monitoring and supervision to ensure that no item registers an arbitrary price rise. Consumer lobby groups are needed to mount sustained pressure to obviate the manipulative mechanism for raising prices. Such groups have been working with tremendous success in other countries. We must foflow suit