Dhaka: Location is the Hajj camp in the capital. Low and middle income people have been waiting for TCB trucks like crows since morning. Standing in line for a long time, many are sweating on their foreheads. Still, no one is leaving the line and going to the shade. Fear that someone will occupy the place!
Some people wearing elegant clothes have also been seen in this line of truck sales. Abdul Momin is one of them. He was wearing a face mask. After a while, I looked around to see if anyone was watching him!
Talking to him. He said he was working as a marketing officer in a company. When there was a lockdown during the Corona last year, he ran the family with what he had in hand. When he ran out of money, he borrowed some money from his relatives. The hope was that when Corona would go, he would be able to pay his debts and live as before.
"I have one son and one daughter," he said. The boy is older, he is in class three and the girl is in class one. They have to pay for their education, rent a house alongside pay off their debts. Although the company increased its salary every year, it did not increase its salary this year due to Corona. The price of everything has gone up. So I was forced to stand in the line of TCB to run the family. It's a little embarrassing to see acquaintances.
According to TCB sources, TCB started marketing its products on February 3 with about 400 trucks across the country. Every day except Friday, a truck sells 600 liters of soybean oil, 400 kg of pulses, 500 kg of sugar and 500 kg of onions. This could affect 5 to 8 percent of the total market demand, Additional Secretary to the Ministry of Commerce AHM Shafiquzzaman told the media. In other words, 95 to 92 percent of the people are forced to buy products at higher prices.
Ration card in the style of India can be an alternative
After a meeting of the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) on February 8, Planning Minister MA Mannan told a news conference that the per capita income of the people of the country has increased to 2,591 dollar equivalent to Tk. 219,738 Bangladesh currency. At that time, the gross domestic product (GDP) stood at 416 billion which is 6.94 percent growth.
These figures on paper did not change the fortunes of many, including Abdul Momin. Instead, prices of most commodities have gone up, from rice, pulses, oil and water to betel nut, fuel and gas. The increase in per capita income could not reduce the burden on their heads.
According to economists, instead of TCB truck sales, ration cards should be provided in Bangladesh in the style of India. Cardholders will be able to go to ration shops and make purchases as per allocation. This will reduce the need for poor low-income people to run behind TCB trucks, to wait for hours in uncertainty, and also to reduce the pressure of rising prices of essential commodities in the market.
Anu Mohammad, a professor of Economics at JahangirNagar University, told Barta24.com: It is insulting to the people. By 1943, the Indian subcontinent had a rationing system. This system was introduced even after the independence of the country. The ration system was withdrawn from the country in the 80's. The main role behind this is played by big donors like the World Bank and ADB. They demanded that rations cause corruption and wastage of food. But it is proven wrong. This system has also broken in Pakistan. However, India did not listen to them and they maintained the ration system.
He said if there was no rationing system in the country, twice as many people would have died in the '74 famine. Millions of families survived because of the ration system. They can overcome the food crisis. Food security measures must be in place in any situation. There is no job security at the moment, when the work is going away. Ration system is very much needed now.
The economist said the ration system in India has reduced corruption and food wastage. Everyone is getting equal opportunity because everything is happening online. The Government of Bangladesh is eager to receive from India. A good initiative like rationing method needs to be taken. If the Bangladesh government wants, it will be able to deliver food aid to the poor through this rationing system better than India.
He said Bangladesh currently has ration systems for certain organizations, including the military providing food aid to the low-income, poor people through ration cards which are inadequate. A large number of people are being deprived of ration services. It must be made public.
It is known that TCB sells trucks in only four hundred and fifty places in Bangladesh. And the number of ration shops in India is 5 and a half lakh, the number of ration shops in West Bengal alone is more than 20 thousand.
TCB trucks are not there all the time, there is no exact address of when and where to come. Trucks actually stand in line for hours, but there is no guarantee of getting the goods. Again, there is an opportunity to buy products by standing in line by syndicating and selling at higher prices in the open market.
On the other hand, ration shops in India are open on every working day of the week. How much the car owes is written on the ration card so there is no chance of cheating. If the ration card list is published, there is an opportunity to cancel the card if it is given to the wrong person.
Therefore, if thousands of ration shops are opened all over the country in Bangladesh like India, the common people will be able to buy daily necessities including rice, flour, oil, pulses and sugar at fair prices.