The roundtable on ' Abnormal price hike, adulteration in food and advertisement against public interest' was organised by the Consumers Society of Bangladesh (Cab) at the CIRDAP Auditorium in the city.

"Frequent price hike of essentials has been occurring in the country due to corruption of the government and the downslide in law and order in the country," JSD President Hasanul Haque Inu said.

Deputy Leader of the Opposition Advocate Abdul Hamid

said about 60 percent lawmakers are at present purely businessmen who are always busy in earning maximum profit causing price hike."

"We have to come out of the current trend of using the election as a profitable investment if we want to restore good governance in the country," he asserted.

Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB) President Manzurul Ahsan Khan blamed the uncontrolled free market economy for frequent price hike of essentials in the country.

Former Vice- chancellor of Dhaka University AK Azad Chowdhury said if flood were the main reason for present price hike, then people had to experience such crisis after the devastating flood in 1998.

Jatiya Party (Ershad) leader GM Kader MP, Jatiya Party (Manju) General Secretary Sheikh Shahidul Islam, Cab President Kazi Akram Uddin Ahmed and General Secretary Faruque Ahmed also spoke.