Students monitor kitchen markets to ensure fair pricing
Students from the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement were seen monitoring Karwan Bazar. A group of about 25 students asked business owners not to overcharge for their products
Students in the capital began kitchen market monitoring Friday morning, a move welcomed by both the public and shopkeepers. They are forming teams in each kitchen market to ensure that no corrupt traders can form syndicates and raise the prices of essential items.
Students from the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement were seen monitoring Karwan Bazar. A group of about 25 students asked business owners not to overcharge for their products.
Ariyan, one of the students, said, "We started monitoring the kitchen market at 9am. We are requesting traders to display price lists where they are easily visible and checking their purchase prices."
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Normally, when the Directorate of National Consumers' Rights Protection monitors kitchen markets, some shopkeepers close their shops. However, this did not happen on Friday.
The students spent nearly an hour walking around Karwan Bazar, talking to both buyers and sellers. They sometimes posed as ordinary customers to check prices. They encouraged sellers to charge fair prices and highlighted the need for everyone's cooperation to build a better Bangladesh.
A team of 15 students, led by Shakhawat Hossain, was also seen monitoring Karwan Bazar. Shakhawat said, "Traders in the capital use coloured lights to make products look fresh. Green lights are used in the vegetable market and red lights in the onion market. We asked them to switch to normal lights."
Rubel Khandkar, a vegetable vendor at Karwan Bazar, turned off the green lights in his shop and installed white lights. He said, "Green lights make even rotten vegetables look fresh. If regular monitoring isn't done, traders will use green lights again. If everyone uses green lights, I will too."
Meanwhile, AHM Shafiquzzaman, director general of the Directorate of National Consumers' Rights Protection, praised the students' monitoring efforts.
While overseeing a monitoring operation at Shantinagar kitchen market, he commended the students' initiative and instructed his officers to work with them. He also urged everyone to stay alert to prevent new charges or extortions.
