Dr. Rashid Askari - February 14th, 2011
Is it then an incurable malady? Definitely not. Maybe it is a hard nut, but it is not impossible to crack. The good image of the Great Alliance Government may fade away if they fail to deal with this problem in right earnest.Opening up of some Government-run markets is not enough to resolve the long-standing crisis. The Government should work out an effectual strategy with regard to this. They should take a tough line on the ‘market syndicate’ men and the unprincipled hoarders who work as an obstacle to the smooth functioning of the market. Stiffer action should be taken to stop the middlemen’s interference in the market. As an immediate remedy the prices of daily essentials should be considerably subsidized and imported.
The gap between the grower and the consumer should be narrowed down considerably by way of increasing the number of markets. The markets should be monitored strictly. The evicted hawkers are hawking goods from place to place quite untidily. They usually charge high prices. To avoid this, there should be a well organized market management system. The Government should also put a stop to all sorts of price-fixing. The practice of fixing prices by agreement between syndicates and middlemen keeps prices artificially high. This should be properly looked into. Moreover, the policy-makers and the law-enforcers should make sure that a pretty uniform list of current prices for goods on sale is maintained.
Above all, long-term price control plans should be taken and properly implemented. The Government should adopt a fresh policy on prices. This may be called the ‘National Price Policy’. The nuts and bolts of the policy should be determined by experts, and built on economic pragmatism. It has become an imperative to plan out this price policy and include it in the National Budget. An immediate implementation of this policy may help us get rid of the specter of price hike; otherwise, the ghost would keep haunting us, and the malady remains incurable. Surely we do not want that. Nor should the Government want it. They should prioritize this market price issue and seriously address it. With this electoral pledge on top, the Great Alliance Government has swept to a landslide victory over their opponents.
If they keep on failing to solve this problem, they too can suffer a reversal of fortunes.
The recent local Government polls should be considered as a wake-up call for the Government. They should wake up and smell the coffee in the boiling market price.
(Ended)
Dr. Rashid Askari writes fiction and column and teaches English at Kushtia Islamic University.
Email:rashidaskari65@yahoo.com
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