Selling rice and flour through the open market sale (OMS) programme will continue until the rice market is stable, Food Minister Sadhan Chandra Majumder said on Tuesday.
“The government operates the programme for five months – from March to April and September to November – every year and the OMS service will continue as long as the market is unstable,” he said.
The government started OMS on September 1 and under the service, people can purchase one kg of rice at Tk 30 and one kg of flour at Tk 18, reports UNB.
Local administration, officials of the Food Department and the intelligence team are monitoring the service, said the minister.
Talking about Boro procurement, the food minister said the government has procured 1.12 million tonnes of boiled rice while 55.20 thousand tonnes of non-boiled rice have been collected.
“The government has a target to procure 0.60 million tonnes of paddy but we got only 0.26 million tonnes,” he said.
During the current Aman season, the government will import rice after ensuring fair prices for the farmers. The government is going to procure 1.03 million tonnes of rice and wheat from several countries, he said.
As per the agreement, the government will purchase 0.23 million tonnes of rice from Vietnam, 0.20 million tonnes from Myanmar, 0.10 million tonnes from India, and 0.5 million tonnes of wheat from Russia, he added.
He also hinted at more procurement of rice through the government to tackle the drought in advance.
An individual can buy five kgs of rice and flour. Besides, TCB card holders can also avail of the opportunity.
Meanwhile, the government also started the ‘food friendly programme’ on the same day under which 5.0 million people can purchase rice at Tk 15.