Nationwide OMS of five essentials in Ramadan

Rezaul Karim | Published: May 14, 2015 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2024 06:01:00

The government will sell key essential commodities at subsidised rates before and during the fasting month of Ramadan to keep the prices and supply stable, officials said.
The Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) has taken the move of open market sale (OMS) of major essential items to keep prices within the reach of the common people, they said.
The state agency would sell essentials at different parts of the country using 174 trucks including 25 in Dhaka, 10 in Chittagong, five each in divisional cities and two each in 57 district towns. The figure was also the same (174) last year, the TCB said.
However, the date to start truck sale is yet to be fixed. Â
The TCB will sell five types of commodities that include sugar, soybean oil, lentils, grams and dates, the data showed.
The state-run agency will provide operating expenses to its dealers at Tk 4.50 and Tk 5.50 for selling of per kg of an essential item in 50 kilometres and beyond 50 kilometres from the TCB warehouse area respectively.
There is a TCB warehouse in every division including Mymensingh district. Â
"We have sufficient stocks of essential items to keep supply and prices steady and stable during Ramadan," chairman of the TCB Sarwar Jahan Talukdar told the FE Wednesday.
He said the number of trucks for selling commodities has not been increased this year as prices and supply of the key essential goods are now stable and at a tolerable level across the country.
The TCB chairman requested not to disclose the stock situation of the five essential items as if the figure is disclosed, the hoarders might take advantage and create an artificial crisis which eventually raises the prices of essentials, he added.Â Â Â
"The government will give importance to keeping supply and prices steady and stable during Ramadan," an official of the ministry of commerce (MoC) said.
"We will increase the number of trucks if the situation demands during the coming fasting month. TCB has sufficient quantity of soybean, sugar, lentil, gram and date so that unscrupulous traders cannot hike the prices of the items artificially during holy Ramadan," he said.
Presently, some 14 vigilance teams have been engaged in monitoring prices of essentials in the kitchen markets, according to the MoC.
There are a total of 3,051 dealers with the corporation across the country till date, according to the TCB website.Â Â
Â Â Â rezamumu@gmail.com