OMS of rice from Sept 10, VGF from Sept 22
Tuesday, 21 August 2007
FE Report
The government will launch its countrywide open market sale (OMS) of rice from September 10, aiming to help supply the item at a lower price to the poor segment of the people, especially during the Ramadan.
Besides, the distribution of foodgrains under the official programme of 'vulnerable group feeding' (VGF) will also kick off from September 22.
The Food and Disaster Management Adviser Tapan Chowdhury informed the newsmen about the aforesaid programmes after holding a meeting on the government's overall foodgrains stock with the senior officials of the ministry at the Secretariat.
The government has taken such programmes under its current initiative to help check the price hike of the essential items especially rice in the market, official sources said.
Under the OMS, a total 118,000 tonnes of rice will be sold through authorised dealers, Tapan said, adding the sales will be conducted on every alternate day until the eve of the Eid-ul-Fitr.
Each person will be able to buy maximum three kilograms (kgs) of rice at the rate of Tk 19 per kg from the dealers, he mentioned.
In the previous OMS, the government sold five kgs of rice to a person at the price of Tk 15 per kg, officials said.
Tapan observed that the government has enhanced the prices of rice this time to prevent any misuse.
He also said the government will supply the rice to the OMS dealers at Tk 18 per kg, the rate of which it had procured it from the domestic sources.
Responding to a query, the Adviser said the government has sufficient stock of foodgrains to face any contingency.
Presently, the total official stock of foodgrains is 715,000 tonnes, about 593,000 tonnes of which is rice, he mentioned.
Apart from that, the government has also taken steps to import significant quantity of both rice and wheat to boost its stock, he added.
He also informed the newsmen that with starting from September 22, the government's VGF government would continue for four moths.
The government will launch its countrywide open market sale (OMS) of rice from September 10, aiming to help supply the item at a lower price to the poor segment of the people, especially during the Ramadan.
Besides, the distribution of foodgrains under the official programme of 'vulnerable group feeding' (VGF) will also kick off from September 22.
The Food and Disaster Management Adviser Tapan Chowdhury informed the newsmen about the aforesaid programmes after holding a meeting on the government's overall foodgrains stock with the senior officials of the ministry at the Secretariat.
The government has taken such programmes under its current initiative to help check the price hike of the essential items especially rice in the market, official sources said.
Under the OMS, a total 118,000 tonnes of rice will be sold through authorised dealers, Tapan said, adding the sales will be conducted on every alternate day until the eve of the Eid-ul-Fitr.
Each person will be able to buy maximum three kilograms (kgs) of rice at the rate of Tk 19 per kg from the dealers, he mentioned.
In the previous OMS, the government sold five kgs of rice to a person at the price of Tk 15 per kg, officials said.
Tapan observed that the government has enhanced the prices of rice this time to prevent any misuse.
He also said the government will supply the rice to the OMS dealers at Tk 18 per kg, the rate of which it had procured it from the domestic sources.
Responding to a query, the Adviser said the government has sufficient stock of foodgrains to face any contingency.
Presently, the total official stock of foodgrains is 715,000 tonnes, about 593,000 tonnes of which is rice, he mentioned.
Apart from that, the government has also taken steps to import significant quantity of both rice and wheat to boost its stock, he added.
He also informed the newsmen that with starting from September 22, the government's VGF government would continue for four moths.