High price: the headache

General people in Nepal are currently suffering a lot from high market price. Sellers and providers of goods and services appear free to raise price; they neither follow the rules of market nor care for relevant government rules and regulations regarding basic quality of what they offer in the market. Government agencies responsible for monitoring the market and ensuring quality of goods and services on offer have failed to register their presence or performance. A general survey of market of Vegetables, grains, fruits, clothes and other essential items for daily life would be sufficient to prove the above points. People with fixed income are the most vulnerable in the current scenario. They have been forced to lower demand, lower consumption and all negative problems resulting from the same. The price increase is generally taken as highly beneficial for those who produce goods and services. But the same has not happened in Nepal. Producers along with consumers appear cheated by market players – the middle persons or brokers who command backing from higher ups in government. They are neither monitored nor scrutinized in real practice. Producers cannot reach the market on their own; they have to depend on intermediaries. Similarly consumers cannot survey whole market for making decision on micro-level-purchase. The weakness of both has offered opportunities for middle persons to buy cheap from producers and boost price while selling in the market. Although a few bodies operate in the name of comforting or voicing for producers and consumers in the economy, their effectiveness is something not yet felt in the market. The story of high price and low quality goods is true in all markets in seven provinces. Governments of all levels from federal to local know the problem but are simply helpless to check the trend and work for the benefit of producers and consumers and discourage middle persons to exploit the weakness of the market. Because of the pain of high market price, living conditions in urban and rural areas are deteriorating. The message, it appears, has reached the Prime Minister. That is why he asked the other day high officials why government offices could not perform effectively to the satisfaction of general people. A few rich people in the society and those with high income level in various fronts do not feel the pain because of their high income. The decision makers and policy formulators are also influenced by such people. That is why they cannot focus on ways to lower the market price. Leaders of private sector should also take the point seriously and work best in the interest of producers and consumers. At least some comfort zones for easing the pressure of high pressure of high market price on general people should be undertaken. Perhaps parliamentarians could also do something in the interest of general producers and consumers.