Consumers' rights
Shafiqul Islam, Dhaka
I noticed a DS news item on 13 June quoting Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB) on the differences of prices of vegetables between growers' level and consumers' level. It has quoted that in some cases the difference is 350% higher at the consumers' level. The vegetable market is a buyer dictated market and the poor growers are victims of syndicated middlemen who buy these products from growers for marketing them in the cities/towns. There is reason why the situation has reached this stage; transportation costs have doubled in the recent past, these vegetables change many hands before reaching the consumers in the Dhaka city etc. There is no system or easy way to help the poor growers who cannot even manage two meals a day. They are growing vitamin-enriched vegetables for us keeping themselves unfed or half-fed and remaining poor always.On the contrary, the market in the Dhaka city is a seller-dictated market. If we look into the prices of fast foods and packet foods being charged by the producers /growers, we feel alarmed. I presume the fast food bakers are charging 350% to 1000% in most cases. Let me put a few examples (a) A nun roti (tandoor) stuffed on top with small cubes of pineapples, very small pieces of meat swatches, small amount of cheese and baked in a modern oven and served by well dressed caterers in AC rooms, the growers call it in Italian language pizza, costs Tk.800.00, (b) A small beef samucha stuffed with tiny peaces of potatoes and onions, traces of beef not even visible with microscope, fried in ordinary oil, is sold in the Gulshan markets at Tk.12-15/- each, (c) 20 grams of mug daal, fried in ordinary oil and packed in a printed foil bag is sold at Tk.6.00 each pack all over Bangladesh. If 10% of our entire population take one packet of this daal a day, then the producers earn Tk 1.5 crore every day, (d) A round shaped chicken pie stuffed with only small amount of grated onion, small amount of home made mayonnaise, there is no chicken found in it, is sold at Tk.12-15/- each in ordinary fast food shops everywhere in Dhaka city. I am sure the above prices are too high. Although we know the customers of these high priced foods are the rich, I strongly feel that there should be some brake somewhere on these undue profit makers. We should also think of the middle class, who need to have a moderate lunch with their modest income but cannot go home at lunch time because they do not have cars.
|
|
