The Food Ministry has started increasing delivery of rice under the government’s subsidized open market sale (OMS) to ensure that the poor are not hard-pressed by high prices of coarse rice in the market during the protracted Covid-19 pandemic period.
Compared to only 4,000 tons of rice sold under OMS in the first one and half months of the 2020-21 financial year, the food ministry distributed 50,000 tons under OMS in the corresponding period of the current financial year (2021-22).
Also Read - 71 companies to import rice
Besides, the ministry has also taken a zero-tolerance policy for misappropriation of rice delivered under OMS.
After a government-appointed dealer in Dhaka’s Jurain area misappropriated 14 sacks of rice (weighing 700 kg) last week, the ministry served a show-cause to one of its food inspectors and filed a case against the dealer concerned.
The dealer’s security deposit against the OMS dealership was also forfeited.
