Students in Bagerhat have teamed up with the Directorate of National Consumer Rights Protection to monitor local markets.
Starting at 11:00am, students were seen inspecting purchase and sales receipts at various wholesale and retail shops, ensuring product quality and fair pricing. They also urged shopkeepers to prominently display price lists.
While prices of vegetables and fish have decreased due to increased supply, the cost of meat, onions, garlic, chilies, and spices remained unchanged.
Vegetable prices have reduced ranging from Tk 5 to Tk 60 per kilogramme compared to the previous week. Fish prices also fell, although some consumers still found them high.
Current prices include: potatoes at Tk 50-55 per kg, eggplants, bitter gourds, okra, and teasel gourds at Tk 60 per kg, papayas at Tk 40-50 per kg, ridged gourds at Tk 50 per kg, and bottle gourds at Tk 50 per kg.
Among fish, hilsas weighing one kg sold at Tk 1,100-1,300 per kg, smaller hilsas at Tk 500-600 per kg, and pangas catfish and tilapia at Tk 180-200 per kg.
Meat prices held steady, with beef at Tk 750 per kg, mutton at Tk 1,000 per kg, and broiler chicken at Tk 170-180 per kg.
Onions were selling at Tk 110 per kg, garlic at Tk 200 per kg, green chilies at Tk 400 per kg, and chili powder at Tk 500 per kg.
Coarse rice saw a slight increase, selling at Tk 46-48 per kg, while fine rice ranged from Tk 58-90 per kg.
Rafique Sheikh, a rickshaw puller, expressed concern about the high prices.
“Regular market monitoring is needed to keep prices within our reach,” he said.
Abdullah Al Imran, assistant director of the Directorate of National Consumer Rights Protection in Bagerhat, said, “The monitoring will continue, and anyone found engaging in price manipulation will face action.”
