VGF cards for urban poor to be launched
Doulot Akter Mala | Tuesday, 15 July 2008
The government is contemplating introducing Vulnerable Group Feeding (VGF) card for the urban poor, reeling under soaring prices of essentials, ahead of the Ramadan month.
The price monitoring committee in a meeting recently asked the food and disaster management ministry to study the operation of VGF in details, officials said.
Commerce ministry officials said the government is planning to launch the programme in a limited scale ahead of the Ramadan month when prices of most of the essential commodities increase significantly.
Sources said the urban poor, whose real income has dipped due to escalating food prices in the recent months, are less covered by government's food ration programme in comparison with the rural poor.
The price monitoring committee, headed by commerce adviser Hossain Zillur Rahman, also decided to strengthen 'market intelligence' to keep essential commodity prices stable, they said.
The committee stressed the need for implementing the '100 days employment programme' in productive sector and utilise surplus farm labourers of southern districts in productive activities, a commerce ministry official said.
Ministry of commerce, food and disaster management, agriculture ministry and apex chamber body will make an integrated effort to check unusual price hike of essentials during the holy month, he added.
The government will distribute rice to the poor in urban areas through VGF card. Limited and fixed income people like labour, garments workers, low-paid government officials will be the main beneficiaries of this VGF.
The urban poor are hard-hit by the hike in commodity prices as they do not produce food. Their income has fallen since the commodity prices started rising in the middle of last year.
The high-powered price monitoring committee already held three meetings to ensure consumers' rights through continuous supervision of local commodity prices.
The 18-member price monitoring committee with representations from public and private sectors has been scrutinising import value, local production and storage of commodity to determine government's next course of action.
The committee comprises Bangladesh Bank governor, revenue board chief, local think-tanks, research institutes, economists, businessmen and importers.
The committee has been taking all possible steps to build buffer stock, keep the prices of commodity market stable and strengthen market monitoring.
It has been maintaining liaison with different agencies, which are involved in monitoring the trend of market prices of essential commodities, dollar exchange rate, import volume, opening letters of credit (L/C) and L/C settlement, food production, demand, supply and stocks.
Earlier, the government has taken step to inform international, local (retail and wholesale) prices of nine essential products on s daily basis through media to stabilise prices in the local market.
Those products are coarse rice, wheat, two verities of lentil, soybean oil, palm oil, onion, sugar and potato.
The price monitoring committee in a meeting recently asked the food and disaster management ministry to study the operation of VGF in details, officials said.
Commerce ministry officials said the government is planning to launch the programme in a limited scale ahead of the Ramadan month when prices of most of the essential commodities increase significantly.
Sources said the urban poor, whose real income has dipped due to escalating food prices in the recent months, are less covered by government's food ration programme in comparison with the rural poor.
The price monitoring committee, headed by commerce adviser Hossain Zillur Rahman, also decided to strengthen 'market intelligence' to keep essential commodity prices stable, they said.
The committee stressed the need for implementing the '100 days employment programme' in productive sector and utilise surplus farm labourers of southern districts in productive activities, a commerce ministry official said.
Ministry of commerce, food and disaster management, agriculture ministry and apex chamber body will make an integrated effort to check unusual price hike of essentials during the holy month, he added.
The government will distribute rice to the poor in urban areas through VGF card. Limited and fixed income people like labour, garments workers, low-paid government officials will be the main beneficiaries of this VGF.
The urban poor are hard-hit by the hike in commodity prices as they do not produce food. Their income has fallen since the commodity prices started rising in the middle of last year.
The high-powered price monitoring committee already held three meetings to ensure consumers' rights through continuous supervision of local commodity prices.
The 18-member price monitoring committee with representations from public and private sectors has been scrutinising import value, local production and storage of commodity to determine government's next course of action.
The committee comprises Bangladesh Bank governor, revenue board chief, local think-tanks, research institutes, economists, businessmen and importers.
The committee has been taking all possible steps to build buffer stock, keep the prices of commodity market stable and strengthen market monitoring.
It has been maintaining liaison with different agencies, which are involved in monitoring the trend of market prices of essential commodities, dollar exchange rate, import volume, opening letters of credit (L/C) and L/C settlement, food production, demand, supply and stocks.
Earlier, the government has taken step to inform international, local (retail and wholesale) prices of nine essential products on s daily basis through media to stabilise prices in the local market.
Those products are coarse rice, wheat, two verities of lentil, soybean oil, palm oil, onion, sugar and potato.