No respite in kitchen market Essentials being sold above fixed caps

Staff Reporter :
Despite a number of steps already taken by the the government, the crisis of overheated kitchen market hasn’t been resolved.

The governments has fixed the prices of onion, potato, egg and others and operated various drives aiming to control of the market and bring down the mentioned items’ price to limited income people buying capacity, but there is no implementation of the decision in the market.

There is no sign of reduction in the prices of most essential items like rice, lentil, edible oil and sugar in the market.

Moreover, customers have to pay more to buy beef, mutton, vegetables and fish.

Ultimately, there is no good news from the country’s kitchen market for the poor people.

On a visit to a kitchen market in Palashi, Karwan Bazar, Mirpur, Moghbazar, New Market, Hatirpul on Friday, it was observed that traders are selling essential items at the previously hiked prices, with some shops charging even more.

While visiting a kitchen market in the Moghbazar Aambagan area of the capital on Friday (22 September) morning, it was observed that all the shops were still selling eggs for Tk13 each.

Potatoes were sold at Tk50 per kilogram, while local onions range from Tk85 to Tk90 per kilogram.

Imported Indian onions were being sold for Tk65 to Tk79 per kilogram.

When asked why the retailers were not selling goods at the government-set prices, they explained they purchased the goods at higher rates, and would face financial losses if they didn’t sell at higher prices.

“I purchased eggs at Tk12.5 each, Tk50 per helm [haali] at wholesale.

Factoring in other expenses, I would need to sell them for Tk53 per helm just to cover costs,” says Hridoy Hossain, owner of a grocery shop in the Aambagan area.

The shopkeeper stressed that retail prices will not drop if wholesale prices do not.

Similar situations have been observed in the Karwan Bazar wholesale market, where vendors sold products above the government-mandated rates.

In Karwan Bazar, it was found that retailers like Nasir Hossen were purchasing onions at Tk75 per kg and potatoes at Tk45 per kg, significantly higher than the government caps.

Nasir Hossen said, “After buying wholesale at prices above the government caps, it becomes challenging to sell at the capped retail prices. “

He demanded monitoring and adjusting wholesale rates to ensure compliance with government-set prices.

Kamal Hossain, a wholesaler at Karwan Bazar, said the price should be fixed from potato cold storage.

“Only then we can buy at a lower price,” he said.

“When potatoes arrive in trucks at Karwan Bazar, we buy them at Tk41-42 per kg.

We have to pay rent of the shop and we sometimes get rotten and small potatoes that we sell at a lower price.

If we set wholesale price below Tk45, we can’t keep a profit,” he said.

Azizur, a vendor at Jabbar Store in Karwan Bazar, said when the government increases the price, the wholesalers immediately increase the price.

“But when the government asks to reduce the price, the price does not go down,” he added.

He said potatoes and onions bought at a higher price are currently being sold at a higher price.

“If the price is reduced in wholesale, we will also be able to sell at the price fixed by the government,” Azizur added.

“We are already monitoring the market.

I will go to Munshiganj tomorrow to visit the cold storages there,” AHM Shafiquzzaman, director general of the Directorate of National Consumer Rights Protection (DNCRP), said.

“After that, I will visit Bogura and Rangpur.

We’re doing as much as we can,” he added.