Oxfam GB, a UK-based charity organisation, has alleged that the government has failed to rein in errant traders although they had pledged to keep the food prices within the affordable level of the middle-and lower-income groups.
'A section of traders in Bangladesh has acted against humanity by shooting up the prices of food items during this Ramadan even though they had committed to keeping the food prices within the means of the middle- and lower-income groups,' Ziaul Hoque Mukta, Policy and Advocacy Manager of Oxfam in Bangladesh, said in a statement released on Thursday.
He said, 'The Bangladesh government must take the responsibility of such failure.'
Mukta said food inflation was recorded 13.40 per cent in July, 2011 in Bangladesh whereas the figure was expected to be 11.34 per cent for the last fiscal year (2010-11).
Oxfam observed the prices of all staples except rice had increased significantly since the beginning of Ramadan. Millions of people across the country fail to have adequate food during the Ramadan due to the price hike, it said.
About the global food price hike, the Oxfam said the rising prices and lack of political would affect millions of people across the world.
Muslims around the world are finding it hard to run their family food expenditures during this holy month of fasting.
Oxfam has been speaking to the people of the United Kingdom, Palestine, Yemen, Azerbaijan, Pakistan, Kenya and Bangladesh as families get together for iftar (Fast breaking) during sunset.
In other countries, Oxfam says, the rising food prices, depleting natural resources and the gathering pace of climate change are all factors which are contributing to hunger and the deterioration of the planet and casting impact on how Muslims have been breaking their fasts.
One of the starkest examples is East Africa, where more than 12 million people are now facing desperate food shortage following the worst drought situation in some regions in 60 years, according to the Oxfam statement.
'For many people around the world Ramadan is a time of spiritual reflection and remembering those that are less fortunate and hungry. We must ensure that people always have enough to eat, especially at the end of a fast when people need to replenish themselves.' said Penny Lawrence, international director for Oxfam.
Source : New Age
