Middle-class, limited income group grapple with prices

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Middle-class people and those with limited income have been rendered helpless by the spiralling price of edibles as well as by the spike in expenses on other heads.

House rent and cost of education, medical treatment and transport also saw a steady rise in the last few months.

Frustration is growing among these groups, as neither their income has increased nor they are getting any support like that of the government safety net programmes for the poor.

A recent study of Consumers Association of Bangladesh (Cab) reveals that lifestyle expenditure of people increased by 16.78 percent in 2007, whereas in the previous year there was an increase of 13.52 percent.

The price of essentials and living expenses especially shot up in the last three months, the Cab leaders said.

Mostly, the teachers of different schools, colleges and government universities, officials and employees of different government and non-government institutions and small traders are bearing the brunt of the situation.

The Cab study also says that the price of rice rose by Tk 7-8 per kg while the price of flour by Tk 5-6 in the last three months. At the same period, the price of pulses increased by Tk 15 per kg and edible oil price leapt by Tk 10 to 15 on an average.

Besides, house rent, cost of education and medical treatment and transport charges also saw a steady rise while the income of these groups remained static, making it harder for them to make ends meet, Quazi Fazlul Haque, programme coordinator of Cab, said.

A large section of them are showing signs of being incapable of dealing with the sudden price hike of essentials, he said adding that many of them are not accustomed to standing in queues for hours to buy rice.

Lots of them are now almost buried under debt with some forced to discontinue their children’s education and look for other jobs in order to survive, Haque observed.

The Daily Star talked to a number of city dwellers from these groups in the past couple of days and learnt about their frustrating experiences trying to cope with the situation.

Wishing not to be named, a college teacher said that he earns Tk 11,000 from the college and also makes Tk 5,000 from a coaching centre a month, of which Tk 8,000 is paid as house rent. The rest goes for the education expenses of his two children, food and transportation, he added.

The soaring prices of essentials have also pushed up the house rents in Dhaka, he said adding that he cannot afford to give rickshaw fares to his children anymore and even had to stop providing them with snacks in the afternoon.

“I am struggling hard to cope with the skyrocketing prices of essentials. I have been trying to supplement my income, but I could not,” said the college teacher bitterly. “We (the middle class) neither do any odd job nor beg. What can we do but endure silently?”

Samina Akter, 22, a primary school teacher of Kamrangirchar, said that she had to remove two of her teeth, as she could not afford proper dental treatment.

“My father does a job in a private firm and earns Tk 4,000 and I make Tk 2,500 monthly. But it is very tough to run our five-member family with this amount.”

“I have been suffering from tooth problems for the last 15 days and when I went to the dentist, he said that it will cost me Tk 5,000 for the treatment,” Samina went on with her sad tale. “Finding no other way, I decided to take out the aching teeth which cost me Tk 200,” she added in an emotion-chocked voice.

A grocer at Palashi Bazar in the capital said that the sale of essential items has dipped.

Even the teachers of Dhaka University and Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (Buet), the main customers at the market, have been forced to consume less, he observed.

Talking to The Daily Star, Dr Atiur Rahman, professor of Department of Development Studies of Dhaka University, said, “The middle-class people want to lead their lives with dignity and that is why they give importance to housing and education first and then go for food, medical treatment and transportation.”

After spending the lion’s share of their income on these, they cannot meet their food and other expenses with the amount left, he said.

With the price hike of essentials, the people from limited income and middle-class are forced to have low standard foods. As a result, they are suffering from malnutrition, which is affecting their intellectual development as well, Dr Atiur further observed.

Besides, their health is further threatened, as these people are left with little money to have proper medical treatment, he said.

“Resentment and frustration are growing fast among these groups and they have no food security,” Dr Atiur added.

During visits to different slums in the city for the last couple of days, The Daily Star found that the slum dwellers are not affected like the limited income and middle-class groups.

Most of them pay a small sum as house rent and they do not have to bear any education expenses.

In addition, almost every member of a family is bringing in some money by working as day labourers, pulling rickshaws, working in garment factories, scavenging papers or metal scraps and begging.

Such options are not open to the limited income and middle-class people.

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