Mobile Court drive to be intensified for controlling price hike: HPM Sheikh Hasina

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said the nationwide mobile court drive will be intensified to check price hike of essentials and food adulteration during the month of Ramadan.

“The nationwide drive of mobile court will be intensified during the month of Ramadan aimed at checking the price hike of essentials and stopping food adulteration,” she said while replying to a supplementary question of treasury bench lawmaker M Shahiduzzaman Sarker from Naogaon-2 constituency.

She said the drive is now being carried out across the country and will be continued in the days to come.

“The government usually conducts drive to check food adulteration,” she said vowing to take stern action against the unscrupulous businessmen involved in the misdeed.

She called upon the businessmen to make profit by giving people standard foods, saying that selling adulterated foods to the people during the holy month of Ramadan is a heinous act.

Referring to her government’s initiatives to bring down the inflation rate to 5.5 percent from the double digit inflation rate during the BNP-Jamaat government, she said, “We have successfully brought down the inflation rate to 5.5 percent which was 10, 11 and even 13 percent while we assumed power in 2009.”

So, the Awami League government is always sincere to check price hike of essentials and food adulteration to ensure standard foods to the people.

Replying to a tabled question from the lawmaker M Shahiduzzaman Sarker about the government initiatives to check price hike and ensure safe foods for the people during the Ramadan, the premier said they have taken a number of initiatives alongside conducting a nationwide drive of mobile court to this end.

The government has increased the activities of the TCB (Trading Corporation of Bangladesh) as part of the market intervention tool to check price hike of essentials particularly sugar, oil, onion, date, chickpea and lentil.

The TCB will operate open market sale of the essential thorough 187 mobile trucks and 2827 dealers, she continued.

Fourteen market monitoring teams have already been formed to monitor the markets in the Dhaka Metropolitan and task forces have been formed at district and upazila level across the country to monitor the markets and keep the price of essential at logical level, she informed.

Besides, a committee was formed at the Commerce Ministry to evaluate the price hike and give prediction to this respect, she said, adding that the law enforcers have been asked to keep normal the transportation of goods during the Ramadan.