OMS rice prices 'should be cut further'

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FE Report
The government should further reduce the prices of coarse rice sold at OMS (open market sale) outlets so that the low-income group of people could benefit more from the initiative, buyers and dealers in the city said.
The government has been selling rice at Tk18 per kg in labour intensive areas of the country from April 1 for one month through some 860 dealers.
The dealers purchases coarse rice from the government stocks at Tk 16.50 per kg and sells it at Tk 18 per kg while the price is Tk 20 per kg in the retail markets. The response from the targeted customers is poor as a result of this marginal difference between OMS and open market prices, the retailers and consumers added.
According to the government decision, a dealer can sell maximum 1000 kgs of rice in a day while a consumer can buy 5.0 kgs of rice at a time.
On spot verification in four OMS outlets under ward no-62 of Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) it was found that all the dealers failed to sell 50 per cent of their target on the second day of OMS operation.
OMS dealer of Palashi outlet Wazed Ali told FE that he had sold only 50 kgs of rice on the first day and today (Thursday) some 140 kg of rice has been sold until 2pm.
He said prices of coarse rice in both OMS shops and retail markets are almost same discouraging low-income people to come to the outlets. "If the government reduces the price to about Tk 15 per kg it'll be attractive to the poor people," he said.
Mentioning previous experiences of OMS operation, the dealer said last year they sold coarse rice from OMS outlets at Tk 24 per kgs when the price was Tk 32-34 per kg in retail markets. "That's why it was a successful one," he added.
The last year OMS operation was carried out from August to September.
Abul Hossain, a rickshaw puller, who bought 5 kgs of rice from Palashi outlet, said the difference of rice prices between the OMS and retail shops was very low.
"The government must reduce the price of rice at OMS shops considering the demand of poor people as this special measure has been adopted to help us," he said.
Dealer of Azimpur New Paltan Lane Khorshed Alam said the price of rice will fall further at the retail markets soon after the new harvest.