The government has moved to centrally store the data of 10 million low-income card-holder families benefiting from the sales drive of the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB), in order to check irregularities.
To this effect, the commerce ministry has asked city corporations and deputy commissioners (DCs) to provide the information of the card-holder families already available with the urban and rural administration, said sources.
The move has been taken mainly to maintain proper monitoring of the sales drive under TCB that has now been operating every month, a senior official of the commerce ministry said.
Under the flagship programme, TCB has been selling different commodities, including edible oil, lentil and sugar, at subsidised prices among the listed low-income people.
Besides, the government can use the data of the benefited families if it wants to include them in other state beneficiary programmes, he added.
The TCB has been operating its sales throughout the year to keep the prices within the buying capacity of the people.
Currently, Soybean oil is being sold at Tk 110 per litre, sugar at Tk 60 per kg and lentil at Tk 70 per kg.
The sales drive is coordinated at the district and upazila levels by the local administration, including DCs and Upazila Nirbahi Officers (UNOs), while the commerce ministry keeps a close watch on the overall sales activities across the country.
The ministry earlier received allegations of irregularities in TCB sales operations in different parts of the country.
In line with the allegations of irregularities, it took stringent actions, including suspending dealerships of some dealers.
The government will take legal actions against the dealers if any of them is found involved in irregularities while selling essential items, added the ministry official.
