Soaring prices keep hilsa out of kitchens

The Directorate of National Consumer Rights Protection (DNCRP) will soon start conducting drives to control the high prices of hilsa in markets.

It will also hold meetings with the fish traders in addition to the campaign in the markets to control the price of this delicious fish.

The price of hilsa has increased too much. Hilsa is a gift of nature.

No one cultivates it; no one has to feed it.

In other words, there is no cost of producing hilsa. There is only the cost of catching and transporting hilsa.

Farmers have to spend a lot of money to cultivate Rui and Katla fishes.

Despite all these facts, the price of hilsa is five to six times higher than that of cultivated Rui and Katla. We will work on it soon.

The DNCRP is preparing to start an app-based market monitoring system.

Initially, the daily oil and sugar production data of major refineries, how much product is being supplied to a district from the mills, and whether the supplied product is reaching that district at all, or has gone somewhere else, will be monitored through the app.

Whether the amount of oil and sugar required daily across the country is entering the market from the mills or not will be verified through the app.

The price of coconut has started dropping after the directorate’s recent drives.

Coconut price jumped to Tk 200 on the pretext of increased demand amid the dengue outbreak, but now it has come down to Tk120-130.

Rising commodity prices have made life miserable for the lower and middle classes.

People’s savings have bottomed out or run out. People are running on borrowed money. Excessive profit and excessive greed of traders is the reason for the price hikes.

The Fisheries and Livestock Ministry gives permission for importing chicken and eggs, while the Agriculture Ministry gives permits for onion import.

Now the authorities should develop a system where anyone is able to import onion without taking permission from any organisation if its price stays above Tk 50 for a week.

People push below the poverty line in terms of daily intake due to price escalation of essential food items.

If the government fails to control the unbridled price hike, more and more people will go into poverty and investment in health and education will be hampered.