It is customary on the part of many a trader in this country that they start hoarding those food items whose demand is great during the holy month of Ramadan well before its advent thus creating their artificial scarcity in the market and then during Ramadan sell them at exorbitant rate, scooping fat monetary gains.
This attitude of our traders is in sharp contrast to the European traders who voluntarily, on their own volition cut back price of essential commodities during Christmas and Easter every year in order to provide relief to the low income consumers.
It is a pity that more often than not our administrative machinery fails to unearth the godowns where the hoarders hoard edibles . Unless they are unearthed, the hoarded material confiscated to the State and then put to open public auction and the godowns where they are hoarded sealed and owners of these godowns put behind the bars and handed down stern jail terms this hoarding is not going to go away.
