‘How will we survive?’
People from low- and middle-income groups in Chattogram have been facing difficult times to maintain their livelihood with the rising prices of daily essentials.
The situation got even worse when prices of essential medicines and toiletries shot up as well recently.
"If I pull my rickshaw for 12 hours, I can earn Tk 600 at best. I could barely maintain my family expenses with this income earlier, but now it's just impossible," said Barek Miah, a rickshaw-puller in the port city and bread-earner of his family of six.
"The rice that I used to buy at Tk 50 per kilo now goes for Tk 60," he said. "I don't dare buy chicken since it costs Tk 180 to 190 a kilo. Now-a-days, I can't even buy eggs."
"The price of fish has shot up, while vegetables are now sold for Tk 60 to 90 per kilo in kitchen markets," he said. "The price of sugar was Tk 80 per kilo around a month ago, but now, it's Tk 90."
"I have to buy medicines for my parents regularly, but I can't cope with the expenditure, and so now, all my family members are compelled to eat less," he said.
School teacher Dipak Biswas echoed the same. "My monthly income is around Tk 30,000 and I could somehow maintain my six-member family with this amount earlier," he said. "My children are students, while my parents need to take medicine regularly due to old-age illness."
"High prices of both daily essentials and medicines are putting us in distress," he said. "I have to pay Tk 10,000 for house rent, and it's almost impossible to maintain other family expenses with the rest of my income."
Shahedul Alam, a pharmacy salesman, said prices of around 54 types of medicines have shot up by 25 to 44 percent in the span of a month.
Iftekher Hossain, a grocery shopkeeper at Hem Sen Lane, said prices of all sorts of toiletries also shot up by 20 to 50 percent within this period, but income of consumers hasn't increased.
Contacted, SM Nazer Hossain, vice president of Consumers Association of Bangladesh, said a section of businesspeople are increasing prices of essential goods, capitalising on the present economic situation.
"The government should take strict steps against the illegal, illogical and unethical price hike of essential goods," he said.
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