Increase TCB sales as the supply is much lower than demand
To lessen the sufferings of the poor and marginalized people as the essential commodities have skyrocketed, the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) has recently started selling some kitchen ingredients at fair price.
Will TCB be successful in the hapless ones? If TCB wants to go for large-scale market intervention, it will need huge investment. It seems like an ambitious task.
One need not go far to find these low-income people. They can be found in the long queue in front of the TCB trucks that are selling daily essentials.
After a hiatus of almost one and a half years TCB has started again to sell four daily essentials to lower income people at a rate lower than the market price.
This initiative has been taken with the aid of subsidies to provide commodities to lower income people.
According to media reports, TCB sold products in 30 places in Dhaka on the first day.
Each truck catering to 300 people, took a maximum of three hours. While talking with seven dealers over mobile, it was learnt that the trucks reached the designated spots with TCB products by 9:30 to 11:00 in the morning.
It takes around three hours to sell these products. But in some places it took only around one and a half hours. Sadly, the TCB could hardly reach only a small number of people.
In this context, we are likely to mention the recent absurd remarks of commerce minister Tipu Munshi that the standard of living of 40 per cent people in Bangladesh is equal to that of the Europeans. It means the people have the ability to purchase daily essentials even if the prices have increased.
However, the minister did not say about the standard of living of more than 40 per cent low-income people who are currently passing their days with imminent hardship.
Mentionable that still many people in Bangladeshi are reportedly crossing the Mediterranean Sea to migrate to Europe despite the risk of their death.
Lured by some manpower agents, they dreamt of going to Italy and other European countries through illegal routes to change their lot in life.
And often their dreams to migrate to Europe drowned in the Mediterranean Sea.
Besides increasing the sale of TCB products, we suggest effective actions rather than public show should be taken against unscrupulous gangs or syndicates.
In that case the sufferings of the poor and low-income people will be alleviated somewhat. Unfortunately no action has been taken against them as yet.
