The government's initiative to provide subsidized rice to 10 million families through the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) will effectively ease the pressure in the rice market nationwide, said Food Minister Sadhan Chandra Majumdar at an inauguration ceremony of rice distribution at the capital on Sunday.
The state-owned TCB started selling rice at Tk30 per kg to every TCB cardholder family from Sunday along with others products like lentil, sugar, and edible oil. Earlier, edible oil, onion, lentil and sugar were sold only through TCB.
Along with rice people could buy sugar at Tk70 a kg, soybean oil at Tk100 a litre. The price of lentils has been reduced by Tk10 per kg, could buy at Tk 60 a kg, it was at Tk 70 per kg last month.
In addition, TCB cardholders also can buy maximum 2-litre soya bean oil at Tk100 per litre and one kilogram of sugar atTk 70 from designated dealer shops or establishment under the city corporation.
TCB started the card-based distribution programme from June 2022 with two litre of soya bean oil, two kilogram of red lentil and one kilogram of sugar.
The food minister said, “The outbreak of Covid-19 was followed by the Ukarine-Russia war, which triggered an abnormal surge in the prices of essential commodities like rice, edible oil, and pulses worldwide.
To provide assistance to the low-income people of the country during this challenging situation, the government took the decision to offer subsidized essential products to one crore families. This initiative aims to alleviate the financial burden on vulnerable households and ensure access to crucial goods during these uncertain times. In addition, the government's OMS, food-friendly programmes and special food assistance for fishermen are ongoing.”
About 3 million metric tons of food grains are distributed annually. Along with this, if 6 lakh metric tons of rice is given annually to 1 crore TCB card holders, the pressure on the market will be reduced - there will be rice surplus. Low income people will benefit as they can buy products at affordable prices, he added.
Annually, approximately 3 million metric tons of food grains are distributed to the people. Additionally, the provision of 6 lakh metric tons of rice to 1 crore TCB card holders will further contribute to reducing market pressure, creating a surplus of rice.
This surplus will facilitate affordable prices for essential products, benefiting low-income individuals by enabling them to access necessities at reasonable rates, he also added.
Speaking as a special guest at the event, Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi said the goal of TCB to engage the general people in this program. Following the Prime Minister's directives, the initiative includes the distribution of rice alongside other daily essentials, ensuring the public's direct benefit.
With one crore families receiving rice, an impressive five crore people will directly reap the advantages of this welfare programme. The government's commitment to broadening the scope of assistance reflects its dedication to supporting the well-being of the nation's citizens, he mentioned.
Mentionable, the food directorate will deliver rice to the TCB through their won dealers and the open market sales (OMS) dealers of TCB will provide rice along with other subsided products to 10 million households.
A card holder could buy a maximum of two liters of soybean oil, two kg of lentils. Sugar could buy only card holder of capital.
According to TCB, the prices of non-branded finer parboiled rice have remained relatively stable for the past two months. However, there has been a marginal increase of Tk1 per kg in the prices of coarse and medium rice. Coarse rice is currently being sold at Tk 48–52, medium at Tk 60–65, and finer at Tk 65–75 per kg in Dhaka city.
Moreover, in the retail kitchen market of the capital, soybean oil is priced at Tk189 per litre, lentils at Tk95 per kg, and sugar at Tk140 per kg. These figures provide an overview of the current market rates for essential commodities in Dhaka.
