Holy Ramadan and sugar

Every year a section of businessmen exploit the holy month of Ramadan as a season of earning extra profit by raising the prices of different items used in increased quantity during this month. This year also they have started indulging in profit mongering by manipulating the prices of different essentials specially sugar well ahead of the holy month. The government is apparently trying to keep the sugar price under control, but the traders seem bent on frustrating all such attempts. For example, the government has fixed the price of sugar at Taka 43 per kg at the mill gate and the Industries Ministers has expressed the hope that the price would be Taka 45 per kg in the retail markets. But in the city, no where sugar is now available at less than Taka 52 per kg and the price is likely to go up further during the Ramadan.
Industries Minister Dilip Barua said during a press conference on Tuesday that the government has decided to build up a stock of 77,650.50 metric tons of sugar to keep the sugar price at an affordable level during the holy month of Ramadan. He said price of sugar has been reduced by Tk 2 per kg by BSFIC and has now been fixed at Tk 43 at mill gate. Dilip Barua said according to Bangladesh Bank, the private sector has imported adequate quantity of sugar this year. Some 120,763 metric tons of raw sugar was imported up to July this year. About the retail price of sugar, the Minister said the Deputy Commissioners will fix the retail price. "We expect consumers will be able to buy sugar at Tk 45 per kg during the Ramadan."
It has been the common practice and tradition in the country on the part of the government ministers to assure the people ahead of the holy Ramadan that there would be no shortage of sugar during the holy month as the government has fixed the price of the item so that the consumers can procure it at a cheaper rate. The Industries Minister has just followed the practice.
The Industries Minister had said a few days ago that the government has planned a buffer stock of 100,000 tons of sugar through domestic and international procurement to meet additional demand. The BSFIC would import 50,000 tons of sugar. Besides, the corporation would procure another 10,000 tons of sugar locally. The government has a stock of 40,000 tons of sugar. Bangladesh largely depends on imported sugar to meet its annual demand of 1.4 million tons as the state-run sugar mills can produce only 125,000 tons. However, now he says that government has decided to build up a stock of 77,650.50 metric tons of sugar. Why has the target been downsized remains unexplained.
Besides, a question has arisen as to whether the fixation of price of sugar by the government will be able to ensure the sale of sugar at the fixed price. On the eve of the Eid-ul-Fitre last year the price of sugar had shot up to Tk. 60 per kg as against Tk. 42 per kg four weeks ago. Taking the advantage of the higher demand dishonest businessmen extracted extra money from the consumers by raising the price of sugar abruptly. Although the mill gate price was fixed at Taka 39 per kg sugar was sold at Tk. 55 per kg at wholesale markets and at Taka 60 per kg to consumers.
In the light of that sad experience, it may be difficult for many to be hopeful that the government measures this year will be quite enough to stabilize the sugar market in the face of the market manipulation by the sugar syndicates who are allegedly waiting to exploit the occasion. In view of this, the government should take all necessary steps to keep the market stable by thwarting the evil designs of the syndicates and ensure smooth supply and distribution of sugar in the market.

 Rehabilitating the destitute

Bangladesh is a land of calamities specially storm, tornado, flood and river erosion that render many people homeless and destitute every year. It is very unfortunate that the number of such people in the country is rising rapidly. At the time of liberation of the country the number of landless people was around 32 lakh, but over the last 39 years it has increased alarmingly to about one crore. These people rendered homeless mainly by river- erosion and extreme poverty are leading unbearable life in slums of the cities or elsewhere in untold miseries.
Meanwhile, erosion by different rivers including Jamuna, Padma, Korotoa, Brahmaputra, Dharala, Surma, Meghna and Arial Kha rivers continue to devour vast tracts of lands at different places of the country. The erosion affected districts include, amomg others, Sylhet, Sunamganbj, Moulvibazar, Jamalpur, Sherpur, Bogra, Rangpur, Gaibandha, Lalmonirhat, Sirajganj, Manikganj, Rajbari, Faridpur, Shariapur, Chandpur and Munshiganj.
There is government rules to distribute khas lands among the landless people to mitigate their sufferings. But those rule are not being followed properly and the woes and sufferings of the landless and destitute people continue unabated. In reality, only a small number of landless people have got allotment of government khas lands, most of which are under the illegal occupation of influential land grabbers and political opportunists. These people are so powerful that in many cases in the past attempts to recover these lands from the illegal grabbers have failed.
It is known to all that the destitute people are suffering terribly and contributing to the problems gripping the social fabric and economy. In view of this, we want to stress here that all government khas lands under illegal occupation should be recovered as early as possible and distributed among the destitute and landless people with a view to rehabilitating them socially and economically.