Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Thursday came down heavily on a section of businesspeople for their unethical act of increasing the prices of essentials commodities during the Ramadan inflicting sufferings on the common people.
“The holy month of Ramadan is coming up. We know that during Ramadan, some businessmen try to hike the prices of essentials. This is an absolutely unscrupulous practice,” she said.
The prime minister said this while inaugurating 50 model mosques along with Islamic cultural centres at various places in the country.
She inaugurated the mosques, joining virtually from her official residence Ganabhaban.
Sheikh Hasina said that Ramadan is a month that encourages restraint and austerity, and everyone must do their bit to ensure and facilitate religious activities and spirituality.
“During this month, these profit-mongers hike the prices and cause suffering for people. This is reprehensible,” the PM said.
The prime minister said the government has already distributed special cards for the people with low incomes.
She mentioned that the government is providing rice at lower prices (Tk 30 per kilogramme) after buying it at a higher price.
“Keeping the holy Ramadan in mind, the government will provide rice at Tk 15 per kg to an additional one crore people,” she said.
She also said the government is providing 20 kgs of rice per month to those who are not eligible for work.
“Like this we are giving people rice, edible oil, lentil, sugar and other necessary items at fair price through fair price cards,” she said.
She urged the affluent people to extend their assistance towards the needy people during Ramadan.
She requested all to remain vigil so that none can adulterate food, resort to hoarding, black marketing and create artificial crisis of essentials items.
In this connection, she urged imams to talk about this during khutbas in Jummah prayer on Friday.
“Food adulteration, hoarding and black marketeering are illegal and unnecessarily make people suffer. You [imams] should speak on these matters more to the people and you can say that during the khutba to make people aware of this,” she said.
State Minister for Religious Affairs Ministry Md Faridul Haque Khan and secretary Kazi Enamul Hassan also spoke at the programme.
