The government has established a special task force at the district level to monitor and review the market and supply situation of essential commodities.

The commerce ministry announced the formation of this task force in a notification issued on Monday, appointing the additional district commissioner of each district as its respective head.

In light of rising prices for essential commodities, the government has created this task force in a bid to stabilise prices.

According to the commerce ministry’s notification, the task force will conduct regular spot visits to various markets, large warehouses, godowns, cold storage facilities, and other key points in the supply chain to monitor the pricing of essential commodities.

The task force will also work to minimise price differences between production, wholesale, and consumer levels, holding consultation meetings with relevant stakeholders.

After daily monitoring, the task force will send reports to the Commodity Price Review and Forecast Cell of the commerce ministry and the Central Control Room of the Directorate of National Consumer Rights Protection, as stated in the notification.

It further instructed the DNCRP to compile and review reports from various districts on a daily basis and send a consolidated report to the commerce ministry by 7:00 PM that same day.

Members of the task force include the additional superintendent of police, the district food controller, the district livestock officer, the district fisheries officer, the agricultural marketing officer or senior agricultural marketing officer, a representative from the Consumers Association of Bangladesh, and two student representatives.

The assistant director of the DNCRP will act as the member secretary of the task force, which may co-opt additional members if necessary, according to the notification.