2024-07-03 15:06:49
The opposition Jatiya Party and independent parliamentarians have expressed their anger and concern in the National Parliament over commodity prices. They said, it is the responsibility of the commerce ministry to break the syndicates and make daily commodities available to the poor people. But the Ministry of Commerce does not have the power to break syndicates and control commodity prices. And the government is in danger of not being able to control the market.
They said these things while participating in the discussion of ‘Bangladesh Trade and Tariff Commission (Amendment) Bill-2024’ in the National Parliament session on Tuesday (July 2). The Act has been amended to rename the post of Secretary of the Bangladesh Trade and Tariff Commission as ‘Director (Administration and Finance)’. Commerce State Minister Ahsanul Islam Titu proposed the bill in Parliament and it was passed by voice vote. Before this, the speaker verified the public opinion on the bill, sent it to the selection committee and settled the amendment proposals.
Participating in the process of passing the bill, Jatiya Party Member of Parliament Hafiz Uddin Ahmed said that the work of the Ministry of Commerce is to control the price of goods. There is an organization called TCB which sells fair price products in the market. I have seen that a card has been given at the upazila level, for which five-six products have to be purchased. Many people cannot take it. Those who do not need should also take from TCB. Where what is not needed is to be taken, what is needed is also to be taken. If they had brought a law to regulate the market without bringing this law, if they had brought a law to break syndicates, then I would have thought that the Ministry of Commerce was doing a good job. At various times they try to control the market. The market is fine when they go. But when they leave, they return to the state they were in. doubles up. I don’t know that the Ministry of Commerce has powers like breaking syndicates and controlling commodity prices.
Hafiz Uddin Ahmed said that the prices of all products have increased in the market. He said, the price of medicine is increasing uncontrollably. I don’t know where the companies will take the billions of profit. Drug companies evade duty, bring raw material with low duty but the price is high in our country. If the price of medicine was controlled, people would get better treatment. There is talk of reducing the price of cancer drugs and kidney treatment by law. Are these companies outside? Is it the East India Company? Our native owner. Do they have no conscience? 100 percent profit. Those who sell in shops pay 30-40 percent tax. Many medicines do not have prices written on them. For that, I will request the Ministry of Commerce to regulate the market. The state of human lamentation. Despite all the development and achievements of Awami League, the government is in danger because it does not control the market.
Independent Member of Parliament Pankaj Nath said that the bill is not in the interest of the people. Here is just a word change. The interest of the people would be there if the duty of the Tariff Commission was easily conveyed to the people by fixing the prices of consumer goods, daily commodities, availability in the market, coordination of import and production. Tariff Commission instead of doing so, the Bill only takes the post of Secretary. Before this, we wrote officers by omitting the word secretary in the Union Parishad. Without spending money in important places like parliament, we can tell where all the secretaries are in an administrative order, say cabinet, say secretary. Where there is no public interest. It is a waste of money to call three hundred and fifty MPs of Parliament to change the word from the post of secretary to official, and change the word in front of the Prime Minister. He urged the government to consider the matter seriously.