The government will start Open Market Sale (OMS) of rice and wheat at Tk 30 and Tk 18 per kg respectively from Thursday in all upazilas across the country.
Food Minister Sadhan Chandra Majumder came up with the assertion while talking to the reporters at the DC's conference at the Osmani Memorial Auditorium on Wednesday.
“The OMS programme remains open round the year though it was launched in 730 shops on a limited scale. Now the OMS service will be launched in upazilas through 1,760 dealers from Thursday,” he said.
A food-friendly programme is there at the union level and rice is also available there at Tk 10 per Kg. So, the programme will not be launched at the union level but it will continue in all the upazilas, he added.
The food minister said, “Although officially the import cost of this rice is Tk 36 to Tk 38. However, we will sale rice at Tk 18 through OMS. At present the country’s rice stocks are the largest than any previous time. There is no rice in the warehouse which may be rotten early. All rice that are stored maintaining quality, so people will be able to eat it.”
The food minister further said instructions have been given to the deputy commissioners to ensure proper operation of OMS.
Several monitoring teams have been formed in the ministries and departments. Instructions have also been given to form such teams at district and upazila level.
Mobile courts will conduct drives regularly to identify the illegal stockholders.
