OMS trucks, outlets to be increased
FE Report | Monday, 28 March 2011
FE Report
The government has decided to expand the Open Market Sale (OMS) of rice programme by increasing the number of truck dealers and opening more outlets in flood-prone unions of the 'haor' region. Head of the Food Directorate Ahmed Hossain Khan told the FE: "We have taken decision to increase the number of trucks in Dhaka and its adjacent areas as the price of rice has not yet come down to an expected level." The number of OMS trucks has been increased by 40 in the capital and in each of the three places, namely Narayanganj, Gazipur and Narsingdi the number will be raised by 10 while in Savar there will be 15 more trucks to sell rice at a cheaper price. According to the decision, the OMS programme will continue for six days in a week until April 30 next. Mr Khan said, "We will increase the number of dealers for OMS in the flood-prone unions of the 'haor' region. Now, there is one dealer in each region and it will be increased to three soon to make sure the government's subsidised rice reaches the hard-core poor." The OMS outlets sell rice at Tk 25 per kilogram (kg), which is at least 40 per cent less than the market rate. A person can buy 20 kg of rice once a month from an OMS outlet. Presently, the government sells cheap rice in 54 districts and 10 divisional cities and district towns. Food Directorate sources said the geographical structure of the country's unions is so vast that if one dealer sells rice in one side of the union, then all the people cannot have information about it. So the authority has taken decision to sell rice through two dealers so that everybody can avail it. Around 350,000 to 400,000 tonnes of rice is being distributed across the country per month through OMS trucks and outlets, according to the Food Directorate.
The government has decided to expand the Open Market Sale (OMS) of rice programme by increasing the number of truck dealers and opening more outlets in flood-prone unions of the 'haor' region. Head of the Food Directorate Ahmed Hossain Khan told the FE: "We have taken decision to increase the number of trucks in Dhaka and its adjacent areas as the price of rice has not yet come down to an expected level." The number of OMS trucks has been increased by 40 in the capital and in each of the three places, namely Narayanganj, Gazipur and Narsingdi the number will be raised by 10 while in Savar there will be 15 more trucks to sell rice at a cheaper price. According to the decision, the OMS programme will continue for six days in a week until April 30 next. Mr Khan said, "We will increase the number of dealers for OMS in the flood-prone unions of the 'haor' region. Now, there is one dealer in each region and it will be increased to three soon to make sure the government's subsidised rice reaches the hard-core poor." The OMS outlets sell rice at Tk 25 per kilogram (kg), which is at least 40 per cent less than the market rate. A person can buy 20 kg of rice once a month from an OMS outlet. Presently, the government sells cheap rice in 54 districts and 10 divisional cities and district towns. Food Directorate sources said the geographical structure of the country's unions is so vast that if one dealer sells rice in one side of the union, then all the people cannot have information about it. So the authority has taken decision to sell rice through two dealers so that everybody can avail it. Around 350,000 to 400,000 tonnes of rice is being distributed across the country per month through OMS trucks and outlets, according to the Food Directorate.