There is a famous saying that money can't buy happiness. It isn't entirely true though. Most of the time, happiness comes from satisfaction. One cannot be happy if he is unable to fulfil the basic needs of his and his family. And the skyrocketing prices of daily commodities have rendered it almost impossible to get by even for a single day without worrying about the next.
Ramadan is here and yet there is no sign of controlling the daily market price of goods and commodities. Every Ramadan, people face the same issue.
However, what is happening this year has broken all previous records. A few months ago, those who couldn't afford beef or mutton were satisfied with poultry chicken. During this period, the price of poultry essentially doubled and they can't even afford chicken any more. Most people no longer have even the minimum opportunity to eat well at least once a week.
Last year during Ramadan, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina suggested that people use pumpkin as an alternative to eggplant for making beguni (a snack traditionally eaten while breaking the fast) as its price escalated. It remains to be seen what suggestions are yet to come as an alternative to other overpriced goods.
A few days ago, Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi said there would be no price hike for essential items if people do not buy excess items before Ramadan. If we accept this blindly, a paradox is created. As Ramadan is the most important month for the Muslim community, eating satisfactorily for the whole month will be one of their priorities.
As the price has gone up beyond imagination, the rich might end up buying excessively while the poor will lose the capacity to afford the bare minimum. Again, if the whole system depends on the consumers only, what is the role of the authority?
While prices of all food items have increased to an almost haunting level, the people who are behind the root level production have not seen their fortune change at all. Last year, tea workers went on strike to increase their daily wages from Tk120 to Tk300. Finally, Tk170 was the agreed-upon wage. Price hikes and inflation rates did not do justice to the wage.
Even if one manages to pay for the food of his family, all the other fundamental necessities remain unfulfilled. This is not just the case of tea plantation workers, this is also the scenario of farmers, marginalized and underprivileged communities, and even lower-middle-class and middle-class sectors.
Article 14 of the Bangladesh constitution states: “It shall be a fundamental responsibility of the [s]tate to emancipate the toiling masses[,] the peasants and workers[,] and backward sections of the people from all forms of exploitation.”
In reality, the state looks to have ignored the responsibility to stand by them. There seems to have a new era of inflation inequality, in which poor households have to bear the brunt of rising costs, and more and more new poor are being created.
The government is failing to stop the syndicate of unscrupulous traders. The Covid-19 pandemic only exacerbated the divide between those living in extreme poverty and those with ludicrous wealth.
According to a June 2022 report of the Power and Participation Research Centre (PPRC), the figure of the “new poor” in Bangladesh following the pandemic accounts for 18% of the total population, which is almost 30 million people. People are still struggling with the financial problems due to the setbacks the pandemic subjected them to. On top of it, the current inflation is adding to their sufferings.
There are several laws in force to protect consumer rights and fair prices. But those laws aren't properly implemented. For example, sections 38 and 39 of the Consumers' Right Protection Act, 2009 states that not showing the price of the goods or products is a punishable offense. Mobile courts are often seen carrying out various actions in the market in line with the fixed prices rules.
However, very few raw market sellers are familiar with fixed price charts. Adequate campaigns have not been organized by the government to create awareness. Only the mobile courts' actions will not be sufficient to reduce the consumer's plight. The High Court of Bangladesh too recently observed that the non-enforcement of laws is leading to an exorbitant surge in the costs of essential commodities. Moreover, the “fixed price” itself of the products continues to rise because of inflation.
The common people do not have any interest in who sits in power, freedom of speech, or the wars of the world. They care about what goes in their stomach and how to gather enough money for it.
Most importantly, people have to sate hunger in one way or another. It is high time for action. To control inflation and price hike, they should do whatever needs to be done or there will be no way out without famine.
Md Emtiaz Hussain is a freelance contributor.