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Tackling Price Hike

Govt to sell essentials in Ramadan

Staff Correspondent
The government has planned to take up a unique programme of selling essential commodities at a fair price during the upcoming Ramadan and introduce a tough monitoring system to control the price spiral of essentials.
As the prices of essentials rise in every Ramadan, the government is planning to sell rice, pulses, fish, meat and vegetables on trucks at cheaper rates in the capital, officials said after a meeting on prices of essentials yesterday.
The ministries concerned have already been asked to build stock of essentials for selling in the Ramadan, the commerce secretary told the meeting of the taskforce on prices of essentials held at the commerce ministry.
The government is also planning to sell rice and flour under Open Market Sale (OMS) programme through about 19,000 dealers across the country and start Food for Work programme from the next month, meeting sources said.
Commerce Minister Altaf Hossain Choudhury said the government is developing a tough price monitoring system. He however declined to disclose the measures, saying, "If the trap to catch thieves is disclosed beforehand, the thieves cannot be caught."
Barkatullah Bulu, advisor to the commerce ministry, said the prices of essentials increase due to extortion by three parties -- police, political parties and truck brokers' syndicate -- from trucks. Each trucker has to pay up to Tk 2,000 per trip, Bulu said.
A high police officer present at the meeting admitted that a section of policemen are involved in extortion. He said necessary steps will be taken to control such extortion.
The food ministry officials told the meeting that it has decided to start the Food for Work and Vulnerable Group Feeding (VGF) programme next month. For this, the government is raising its food stock from 7 lakh tonnes to 14 lakh tonnes.
The price hike of essentials put the four-party coalition government in embarrassment frequently during the last four years.
Even the ruling party lawmakers expressed their worry about the price spiral and feared its negative impact in the coming general elections. That is why the government has drawn up such price control programmes, sources said.
The food ministry informed the taskforce that the ministry is starting OMS in the capital from September 1 through 650 dealers and from September 15 throughout the country through more than 18,000 dealers.
The commerce ministry said that acting upon its suggestion the National Board of Revenue has withdrawn the ban on the import of rice and sugar through land ports. Its effects are already noticeable in the market.