Consumer rights have been severely curtailed during the previous government’s tenure. To provide relief to consumers, necessary amendments to the law and steps to increase administrative capacity must be taken, said Commerce Advisor Sheikh Bashiruddin.
He said this as the chief guest at a discussion on strengthening consumer rights at the TCB auditorium on Wednesday (June 18) afternoon.
The Commerce Advisor said, “During the past fascist period, the country’s business institutions and markets were destroyed by syndicates. We have to speak out against syndicates. We have to come out of the culture of unfairly weakening institutions.”
He said, “We will do whatever is necessary for consumer rights, including reforming our laws. If we strengthen our institutions and increase their capacity, the miscreants will be forced to retreat.”
The Advisor said, “We are able to bring diversity to the market. As a result, our work has become easier. This effort to monitor the market has brought some relief. We have to restore our purchasing power.” In this regard, the central bank is working to reduce inflation. The Ministry of Commerce has taken measures to diversify. We want to diversify more. We will all work together to ensure consumer rights. If we have to change our trade policy to do this, we will do so.
Sheikh Bashiruddin said, we have provided salt in mosques and madrasas during Eid. This is a completely new decision. In addition, measures have been taken to ensure that passengers are not harassed during the Eid journey. Overall, we will work together to ensure the right to get products at a fair price and at the right price to achieve consumer satisfaction.
In his welcome speech at the discussion meeting, CAB General Secretary Humayun Kabir said, due to the supervision of the Ministry of Commerce, the Department of Consumer Affairs and BSTI, the prices of products did not increase during the past Ramadan. This shows that it is possible to control the prices of products if our institutions are run by qualified people.
Secretary of the Ministry of Commerce Mahbubur Rahman and Director General of the Department of Consumer Affairs Mohammad Alim Akhtar Khan were special guests at the discussion meeting.
BSTI Director General SM Ferdous Alam, CAB Acting President Jamil Chowdhury, CAB Advisor Anisul Haque were also present at the time. CAB representatives from various districts, upazilas and divisions of the country were also present at the time.
