'Onion hoarders will be punished', says DG of Consumers Rights

Director General of the Directorate of National Consumers' Right Protection AHM Shafiquzzaman has said the onion market is expected to get stabilised within the next week.

“Newly harvested onion have already started coming in the market. Onion hoarders will be brought under the law and action will be taken against them. Some hoarders behind the increase in onion prices have already been identified and the process is underway to identify rest of the hoarders,” he said on Monday while speaking at a function.

The DG said efforts are being made to find out who hid the onion and how the onion arranged in layers in Khatunganj and Shyambazar disappeared.

He said already Tk11 lakhs fine had been imposed after conducting drives in 54 districts of the country.

 “Though it has been possible to control the volatility in the meat and potato markets, the government is working to stabilise the onion market now,” he said, adding that, “Our campaign to protect consumer rights will continue.”

The reception for the winners in a debate on consumers’ rights was held in the conference room of the Directorate of National Consumers Right Protection in Dhaka's Karwan Bazar.

Chairman of Debate for Democracy Hassan Ahmed Chowdhury Kiron presided over the function.

Cumilla Victoria Government College won the competition and Eden Women's College won the runners-up honor.

Chowdhury Kiron said the current situation of commodity prices in Bangladesh shows that the black market is more powerful than the government.

“I hope those who have hidden onions in different places will supply items to the market quickly if they want to avoid loss,” he said.

The Ministry of Agriculture in a notification on Sunday said that newly harvested Murikata and summer onion have started arriving in the market, and there is no reason for hiking prices of the essential item.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture, each year Murikata onion is cultivated in about 50 thousand hectares of land, producing about 8 lakh tons. This year, summer onions have been planted on about 500 hectares of land, with harvest expected at about 50 thousand tons.

The notification also mentioned that these Murikata and summer varieties of onion have started coming in the market and it will be available for 3 to 3 months and a half. After that, the main variety of onion will start coming in the market and the production may be around 26 to 28 lakh tons.