The government is going to provide 50 lakh families with 30 kg rice at Tk 15 per kg from March 1 under its Food Friendly Progamme, Food Minister Sadhan Chandar Majumder said on Sunday. “OMS is an ongoing programme. It will continue as long as there is demand for it. If necessary, it will continue throughout the year. Both rice and flour will be provided under the programme,” the minister said while speaking to the media after inspecting an OMS programme at Naogaon’s Atapotti and Rubir Mor area. “Although Open Market Sale(OMS) is not a year-long programme, it was undertaken so that low-income people would not suffer. That’s why we are still running the programme. What we want to see is whether people are getting the benefit and whether any dealer is smuggling. For this reason, inspection and monitoring will continue,” said the minister. Read more: Govt plans to provide 10 kg rice to 1 crore families each during Ramadan: Food Minister He also said the food stock in government warehouses has exceeded all previous records, adding that Bangladesh currently has more than 21 lakh tonnes of food stock against the safety stock of 10 lakh tonnes. Currently, the government is distributing around 14000–15000 tonnes of rice and flour per day across the country. According to the minister, other food assistance programmes (Kabikha, VGF, TR) will also run alongside OMS. “So there is nothing to panic about. There will be no food shortage in the country,” he added. The minister issued a warning to the traders not to stockpile food items for financial gain at the expense of the people. “New laws are being enacted. Cases have already been filed against many groups. Surveillance has been increased,” he said. Read more: Economic dev not possible without agriculture: Food Minister Rajshahi Regional Food Controller GM Farooq Hossain Patwar and Naogaon District Food Controller Alamgir Hossain were among the officials present. Meanwhile, the people who came to collect food items under the programme, said that the allocation is less than the demand. The minister assured the people that their problems would be taken into account.    

There will be no food crisis till the next Ramadan in the country, said outgoing Cabinet Secretary Khandker Anwarul Islam on Tuesday. The food stock position up to next June shows that there will be no food crisis, he told  reporters after a meeting of the Committee of Secretaries at the Secretariat. Read more: IFC giving $32.5 million to ensure food security in Bangladesh The Agriculture Secretary has been coordinating for the last six months in this regard. “More than 16 lakh tonnes of food remains in stock. So we are in a good situation.” He said the yield of Aman paddy has been good this year as Aman has been cultivated  in the low lands as the drought has been prolonged. Besides, various food aid services including open market sale (OMS) will continue, he added. On November 27, all secretaries had a meeting with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and a follow-up meeting was held today, said the cabinet secretary. “We have received a review from all our secretaries on the cost reduction efforts like how entertainment cost is reduced, how electricity bill is reduced, then how much is being reduced in petrol consuming,” he said. Read more: Russia wants to support countries in energy, food security: Ambassador It has been possible to reduce the cost of electricity by about 48 percent since June, he said adding that the Prime Minister's office has reduced it by more than 60 percent and 40 percent cost reduction in fuel consumption has been possible, he added. In the meeting of the secretaries with the Prime Minister, directive was given to get prepared for any possible crisis, he said . Asked about the crisis, he said, it is not a political issue. If the supply chain is stopped due to any reason, for one or two months, all have been asked to get prepared for that, added the cabinet secretary.

Bangladesh’s current food stock is highest-ever in recent times, Food Minister Sadhan Chandra Majumder said on Tuesday dismissing any possible food shortage in the coming days. “In spite of the good stocks, efforts are on to increase import of rice to keep the price of the staple under control and ensure food safety,” he told reporters at Naogaon Circuit House. During the Boro season, some 19.50 lakh metric tonnes of rice have been procured until Monday and the procurement drive will end on Wednesday. The Boro procurement target will be fulfilled by the end of this drive, he said. The minister said there is no possibility of a shortage of any kind of food such as rice and wheat as the government has already decided to import wheat from Russia and Ukraine. Read: No bar to import food from Russia, Ukraine: Tipu The government has increased the number of open market sale (OMS) dealers three times for mitigating public sufferings, he said adding the number of OMS centers has been raised  from 813 to 2363. Not only that, the government is going to start open market sale (OMS) of rice from September 1 as per the directives of the prime minister, said Sadhan. The TCB card holders can buy OMS rice showing their cards, while others can purchase rice by showing their NID cards twice a month, said the minister. The authorities concerned will ensure that no person can purchase rice through OMS more than twice. After the launching of OMS service and food-friendly programme, the rice price will come down at a tolerable level after a few days, he hoped.