Director General of the Directorate of National Consumers Right Protection AHM Shafiquzzaman on Monday said the onion market is expected to get stabilized within the next week.
“Newly harvested onions have already started coming into the market. Onion hoarders will be brought under the law and action will be taken against them. Some hoarders behind the increase in onion prices have already been identified and the process is underway to identify the rest of the hoarders,” he said while speaking at a function.
The DG said efforts are being made to find out who hid the onion and how the onion arranged in layers in Khatunganj and Shyambazar disappeared.
He said already Tk11,00,000 fine had been imposed after conducting drives in 54 districts of the country.
“Though it has been possible to control the volatility in the meat and potato markets, the government is working to stabilise the onion market now,” he said, adding that, “Our campaign to protect consumer rights will continue.”
The reception for the winners in a consumer rights debate was held in the Directorate of National Consumers Right Protection conference room in Dhaka's Karwan Bazar.
Chairman of Debate for Democracy Hassan Ahmed Chowdhury Kiron presided over the function.
Comilla Victoria Government College won the competition and Eden Women's College won the runners-up honor.
Chowdhury Kiron said the current situation of commodity prices in Bangladesh shows that the black market is more powerful than the government.
“I hope those who have hidden onions in different places will supply items to the market quickly if they want to avoid loss,” he said.
The Ministry of Agriculture in a notification on Sunday said that newly harvested Murikata and summer onion have started arriving in the market, and there is no reason for hiking prices of the essential item.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture, each year Murikata onion is cultivated in about 50,000 hectares of land, producing about 8,00,000 tons. This year, summer onions have been planted on about 500 hectares of land, with harvest expected at about 50,000 tons.
The notification also mentioned that these Murikata and summer varieties of onion have started coming into the market and will be available for 3 to 3.5 months. After that, the main variety of onion will start coming into the market and the production may be around 26,00,00 to 28,00,000 tons.