Sri Lanka's per capita income is 68.76 percent higher than Bangladesh's, but the country's per capita food expenditure is only 63.64 percent of Bangladesh's. India's average per capita income of 9.79% on food is only 53.79% of Bangladesh's.

Research institute Center for Policy Dialogue (CPD) believes that despite relatively low income, Bangladesh has to spend unusually high on food due to inefficiency in market management, absence of competition in the market, and excessive profit tendency of traders.

On Sunday (June 2) research director of the organization Golam Moazzem said in a press briefing that 105 taka liter soybean oil is being sold at 163 taka in the country. In the European market, the price of sugar is 39 taka per kg and is being sold at 130 taka in the country. He thinks that the price of various products including beef is much higher than other countries in the country's market.

CPD organized a media briefing titled 'Economic Status of Bangladesh in the financial year 2023-24' to highlight the latest picture of the country's economy. Apart from Research Director, Research Fellow Muntasir Kamal and other researchers spoke at the event organized in the organization's own office.

In the event, Golam Moazzem said that the people of Bangladesh have to live by buying everyday products at high prices despite their low income. He also commented that due to the trend of increasing prices, many everyday products have become a kind of luxury product.

Commenting that the government does not have enough initiatives to control inflation, he said that all the initiatives that are announced at various times are not implemented.

He said there is a weakness in market management. The Competition Commission has weaknesses. Some clauses of the Competition Act must also be changed. To deal with the pressure of inflation, Moazzem suggested increasing the government's support for poor people and reducing the tariff of daily commodities in some cases.

He said that many times the tariff of some products is reduced but consumers do not get the benefits. As the number of importers is very small, it depends on their margin to reduce the price of the product.

He also said that once there was a structure of 5-6 percent inflation, the country has now moved to a structure of 9-10 percent inflation.

Commenting that inflation is higher in Bangladesh than Sri Lanka, he said that not being able to control this inflation is a big failure of the government.

At the news briefing, Moazzem presented a comparative picture of 16 countries' per capita national income and expenditure per person on food in one year.

According to the list, Bangladesh has the lowest per capita income among 16 countries including Jordan, Morocco, Bolivia, Uzbekistan, Laos, Indonesia, India, Tunisia, Vietnam and Sri Lanka. But in terms of expenditure in a year, a citizen has to spend the most in Bangladesh.

Railway Minister Bir Muktijoddha Zillul Hakeem said, no one from the railways is sitting to give any kind of benefits to the bus owners. If anyone indulges in any such activity and if it is proved then the Ministry of Railways will take strict disciplinary action against him.

Explaining the reason for stopping the Cox's Bazar special train, he said, it has been revealed in the media that the Cox's Bazar special train has been stopped to give special benefits to the bus owners. This is a complete lie and imaginary news. This is not correct. Nothing happens by imagination, imagination cannot be established in reality. Cox's Bazar special train was stopped mainly due to mechanical failure

He said this while speaking as the chief guest at Mashalia Bazaar of Jamalpur Union of Baliakandi Upazila of Rajbari on Saturday (June 1) evening.

He said, the hope is that this train will be restarted on June 12. Our resources are limited. We are trying to keep all the trains running as per the instructions of the Prime Minister. Occasionally a couple of trains may be stopped due to mechanical faults. But we undertake to relaunch it soon. But by stopping the train, I will give benefits to the bus owners; this is the sign of a distorted mentality.

Calling upon all Hindus and Muslims to live together amicably, the Railway Minister said, "What is the benefit of attacking the homes of Hindus?" Islam is a religion of peace. There is no disturbance or extremism in the law of Islam. A handful of miscreants attacked Hindu houses to create unrest in the area. We know who attacked. If the attackers are identified, legal action will be taken against them. Our region is a peaceful region. Don't try to make a mess here.

Superintendent of Police GM Abul Kalam Azad, Baliakandi Upazila Nirbahi Officer Rafiqul Islam, OC Alamgir Hossain, Jamalpur Union Parishad Chairman AKM Farid Hossain Babu addressed the peace and harmony rally under the chairmanship of Rajbari Deputy Commissioner Abu Qaiser Khan.

Everyone knows the dialogue between the tailor-bird and the sparrow about the place of residence in the poem "The Happiness of Independence" written by the famous lyricist and poet Rajinikanth Sen. "I live happily in the building, how much you suffer in the sun, rain and storm". The reality of the sparrow's dialogue with the tailor- bird is brutal. The 'building of great happiness' is built in exchange for the life of the day laborers who are toiling in the society. The sweat and blood of the workers are mixed in every brickwork of these towering buildings. In spite of brutal death while working at risk of life, in the end there is no justice or proper compensation. Rather, the relatives of the deceased were forced to compromise on nominal compensation under the pressure of political and public representatives.

As happened in the case of three workers killed when bamboo scaffolding collapsed from a ten-storey building under construction at Mayakanan in Sabuj Bagh of the capital. On the morning of May 17 (Friday) this year, they fell down while doing plaster work on the outer wall of the building. Two workers named Altabur (40) and Antar (20) died on the spot. Mofizul (20) died after being taken to Dhaka Medical College Hospital with serious injuries. In this incident, Afroza Begum, the wife of the deceased worker Altabur, filed a case of negligent homicide against building owner Aminul Haque Bhuiyan (51) and contractor Farooq Hossain (40) at Sabuj Bagh police station. Even after 13 days of the case, no one was arrested. Instead, it was settled for only for Tk. 3 lakh.

When asked about the progress of the case, Sabujbag police station officer-in-charge (OC) Praloy Kumar Saha told Barta24.com that the investigation of the case is underway. However, two days after the incident, the accused got bail from the lower court. So we could not go to them.

When attention was drawn to the fact that the defendants have settled the case, he said, "I am not aware of this matter." No one approached me about this. And since the accused are on bail, I don't have any such information.

It is said that Mayakanan spoke to several workers and masons who worked in that building, and some local influential people, including Chittaranjan Das, councilor of Ward No. 5 of Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC), compromised on May 22. In the meeting held at the house of contractor Farooq, it was said that each worker's family will be given Tk. 3 lakh. On the day of the incident, Tk. 50,000 has already been paid for hospital expenses and car rental expenses for carrying the dead body. The remaining two and a half lakh taka was supposed to be paid on 29th, but the workers have not received any money. The owner took another 3 to 4 days. The contractor and the owner are pressuring the family members of the workers to sign the stamp with Tk. 1 lakh. The remaining amount will be paid after the case is dismissed. But the relatives did not agree.

When asked about intervening in the death of three workers, DSCC Ward No. 5 Councilor Chittaranjan Das told Barta24.com, "I have heard about the death of the workers. No one came to me. I don't even know the home owner or the contractor. Even the families of the dead workers did not come to me. Hence the question of arbitration does not arise.

According to the statistics of Bangladesh Institute of Labor Studies (BILS), 4 thousand 758 workers lost their lives during construction work in the last five years. 3 thousand 248 workers were injured. In 2023, the number of deaths of workers in various professions is 742. Out of which the number of construction workers is 118. 65 people were injured. That is, 15 percent of the total worker deaths are construction workers. According to the data published by various media about the death of workers, in 2022, 1 thousand 34 workers died in various occupations. One thousand 37 people were injured. In 2021, 1 thousand 53 people were killed and 594 people were injured. In 2020, 729 people were killed and 433 people were injured. In 2019, 1200 people were killed, 695 people were injured.

In addition to falling from buildings or being killed in accidents while doing construction work, there are also cases of torture and killing of construction workers. 9 construction workers lost their lives in torture in 2023.

Many construction workers died and were injured beyond the news published in the media. Which is influenced by local and political people, its news is not published in any media. Those remains hidden. As a result, many families lose the main income earner of the family and live an inhumane life.

In January of this year, the youngest son of Abu Saeed of Mominpur Jangra village of Patgram upazila of Lalmonirhat district died while working on the roofing of a multi-storied building in Aftab Nagar, Badda of the capital. Bayezid (20) used to support his elderly parents with his own income. The family did not file a case regarding his death. They compromised in exchange of only Tk. 2 lakh.

Confirming the fact, the deceased's elder brother Shahin said that the younger brother died while working. We did not file a case. What will happen if you file a lawsuit? The owner of the house came to our house. He told his father to give Tk. 2 lakh to trade with it. They didn't look any further.

When asked about the death of construction workers and the subsequent settlement, Executive Director of Bangladesh Institute of Labor Studies (BILS) Syed Sultan Uddin Ahmed told Barta24.com that there is no implementation of the labor law as it is weak. Punishment and compensation in cases of worker death are less in Bangladesh law. As a result, the owner does not care about the safety of the workers. A nominal penalty and a fine of two lakh taka in case of death due to negligence of a worker. As a result, the relatives of the workers compromise in exchange of nominal money to avoid the lengthy process of the case.

Sultan Uddin Ahmed, who has worked for a long time on the rights of workers, also said that most of our workers are from rural areas. They come to him as a result, unions do not work for them. And even if it works in one or two cases, that too is city-centric. In most cases the family does not come forward. Various contracting companies are taking advantage of this.

He also said that it is the responsibility of the government to make the working environment of a country safe. There are labor laws for that. To ensure the safety of a worker as per that Act. Informing him of potential risks. It is the owner's responsibility to provide training and safety equipment. It is also the responsibility of the government to see whether the owner is fulfilling his responsibilities or not. But the unfortunate thing is that most of the big companies don't take it seriously. And the works of these workers of the government, who are responsible to look after them, do not properly inspect them. They go to some big projects but they don't go to privately owned buildings. However, many workers died in these buildings.

On the occasion of Eid-ul-Azha, the government marketing agency Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) will start selling rice, pulses, sugar and soybean oil at subsidized prices to one crore family card holders across the country from today.

This information was informed in a press release on Saturday (June 1) by the organization.

According to the press release, State Minister for Commerce Ahsanul Islam Titu will inaugurate this sale program at Mirpur-11 Pallabi Sheikh Fazlul Haque Moni playground on Sunday. A cardholder can purchase a maximum of two liters of soybean oil, two kg of lentils, one kg of sugar and five kg of rice. TCB will sell soybean oil at Tk. 100 per liter, lentils at Tk. 60 per kg, sugar at Tk. 70 per kg and rice at Tk. 30 per kg.

The circular also said that this sale is being started as part of the monthly program. In June, one crore family card holders across the country will be able to buy rice, pulses, sugar and soybean oil at a lower price than the market price. Customers can purchase these products from TCB's designated dealer stores or designated sales points. The City Corporation, district and upazila administration will fully cooperate in this sale.