The holy month of Ramadhan is round the corner.As usual the traders have jacked up the price of essential commodities without any rhyme and reason.Their modus operandi is that before the advent of this holy month every year they start hoarding those consumer goods whose demand is likely to increase manifold during the month of fasting.After creating their artificial scarcity they then sell them at the price of their choice thus scooping fat gains.
This attitude of theirs is in sharp contrast to the behaviour of traders in the West who voluntarily cut back on the price of essential commodities during their religious festivals and occasions like Christmas and Easter by as much as 50 percent in order to enable the have-nots also to participate fullyin their joys.
Granted that state interference in market economy is avoided by the practitioners of capitalistic economy who believe in the formula and mechanism of supply and demand but let us admit that if market forces are left uncontrolled they are prone to indulge in economic exploitation of the have-nots, no holds-barred.This is exactly what has been happening in this country There is no worthwhile state control over the market forces since long.Time was when in every district there used to be price review committee headed by the deputy commissioner which used to monitor closely the fluctuation in the price index of edibles.That practice has since been discarded with the result that the there is no authority in the field which could checkmate the grown and growing appetite of the traders to make as much money as possible on occasions like Ramadhan and Eid.
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