Someone does not really need to be an economic expert to understand the afflictions cross-sections of people are going through. A random visit to any kitchen market is enough to ruffle your feathers as the sky-rocketing prices of different food items continue dealing a heavy blow.

And when even the official stats paint a stubborn picture of food inflation rate, it clearly insinuates that people belonging to the lower rungs of the ladder are in for a double whammy. According to a piece of news published in our daily yesterday, food inflation has hit a five-month high, reaching 10.22% in April this year while marking a steep rise from 9.87% recorded in March. This is official data. The real scenario is much more petrifying than this.

Even this week the prices of meat and egg have experienced a sharp spike. Whereas a dozen eggs were sold at 130 taka last week, it is now being sold at 155 taka. This is just one example. The price of every single essential is being jacked up on a regular basis under the very nose of the monitoring cell and others responsible for reining in the reach of the syndicates and regulating the market.
It is now quite clear that the authorities have developed thick skin while the responsible government agencies have turned into bureaucratic monoliths that are full of annoying affectations. Out of an urge to prove a point, they sometimes conduct some drives. But at the end of the day, these kinds of drives are not bearing any fruit for the ordinary citizens in the long run.

Consequently, the overall wellbeing of the population is getting jeopardised. On the one hand, people’s purchasing capacity has decreased in the last two years, as suggested in the World Bank’s Poverty Outlook for Bangladesh, on the other hand people are getting deprived of the adequate protein intake. This will lead to greater nutritional deficiency among the population, which may result in higher risks of getting diagnosed with different diseases. This will in turn again shoot up the out-of-pocket health expenditure of mass people.  
In such a backdrop, we do not really want to urge anyone to be more vigilant because such calls fall on deaf ears. Rather we request those in power to put themselves in ordinary people’s shoes. Only then some real changes may happen.