Rice queue gets longer
Prices in market fall a little
People wait for the OMS (open market sale) truck in the city's Lalbagh area at 6:00am a few days ago. As the price of rice continues to go up, many from middle and lower-income groups every day rush to the capital's OMS points to buy rice at subsidised price.
Prices of rice eased marginally this week but still remain too high for the poor, forcing more of them to queue up at fair price outlets.
People in the lower middle income group have recently started going to open market sale (OMS) shops to buy the staple food at a subsidised rate."Nobody likes to stand in a queue. I wouldn't have been here had I not been compelled to. Prices of rice are too high to afford for a long time," said a depressed Mohammad Shahed, an undergraduate student of marketing under the National University.Shahed stood in a queue at a government fair price point at Swamibag on Thursday to buy rice at Tk 24 per kilogram, at least Tk 10 cheaper than the market price.
According to a food ministry official, a total of 209 OMS trucks had sold rice to 125,000 families in the capital on that day.Currently, retailers sell coarse rice, mostly consumed by the poor, at Tk 34-37 a kg, down from Tk 35-37 per kg last week.The rice prices dipped slightly more than two months after it was traded at a record high price level at retails.
Despite having a good rice output in the last three crop seasons, prices of coarse rice soared by 31 percent locally during the last year.A low government stock and rising international prices heated the local rice market, analysts said. However, prices of other essentials, such as wheat, flour, cooking oil and spices, shot up too. This price surge was attributed to poor crop output in the producing countries due to natural calamities.
On a year-on-year basis, prices of cooking oil and flour, for which Bangladesh heavily depends on imports, rose as high as 56 percent and 51 percent respectively. It deepened the hardships of the low income people who account for 40 percent of country's population.
People standing in queues at OMS shops said hike in prices of essentials put them into trouble at a time when most of them have to pay higher amounts for house rents and children's education.
"My income has not increased in line with the rising costs of living. House rent has been going up every year," said Babu Pal, a worker at a light engineering workshop.
To reduce the sufferings of the poor and ease prices, the government expanded its various safety net measures including doubling the number OMS outlets in Dhaka."People now think they will not go empty-handed as the number of OMS trucks have increased," said Md Mirazul Haque, OMS operation supervisor at Kamrangir Char Lohar Pool.
Buyers look for saving at least Tk 50 by purchasing 5 kg of rice from a fair price point. They said the saved amount helps them to buy vegetables or spend on other family purposes."We do not need to stand here if market prices are affordable. Even cooking oil and vegetables have become pricey," said a housewife Sultana Ahmed Dipa.
OMS dealers said the government sells sunned rice two days a week, which finds very few buyers. They gather in large numbers when boiled rice is sold during the other weekdays.Ahmad Hossain Khan, director general of Directorate of Food, claimed the crowding at OMS outlets has eased after the increase in fair price points.
Now rice stocks do not deplete faster, he said adding, nearly 2,000,000 people are getting the benefit due to expanded OMS operation across the country.He also hoped prices of rice would drop to Tk 26-27 per kg within this month.The government last week decided to add another 50 truckloads of rice to the present OMS quantity from this week.
People in the lower middle income group have recently started going to open market sale (OMS) shops to buy the staple food at a subsidised rate."Nobody likes to stand in a queue. I wouldn't have been here had I not been compelled to. Prices of rice are too high to afford for a long time," said a depressed Mohammad Shahed, an undergraduate student of marketing under the National University.Shahed stood in a queue at a government fair price point at Swamibag on Thursday to buy rice at Tk 24 per kilogram, at least Tk 10 cheaper than the market price.
According to a food ministry official, a total of 209 OMS trucks had sold rice to 125,000 families in the capital on that day.Currently, retailers sell coarse rice, mostly consumed by the poor, at Tk 34-37 a kg, down from Tk 35-37 per kg last week.The rice prices dipped slightly more than two months after it was traded at a record high price level at retails.
Despite having a good rice output in the last three crop seasons, prices of coarse rice soared by 31 percent locally during the last year.A low government stock and rising international prices heated the local rice market, analysts said. However, prices of other essentials, such as wheat, flour, cooking oil and spices, shot up too. This price surge was attributed to poor crop output in the producing countries due to natural calamities.
On a year-on-year basis, prices of cooking oil and flour, for which Bangladesh heavily depends on imports, rose as high as 56 percent and 51 percent respectively. It deepened the hardships of the low income people who account for 40 percent of country's population.
People standing in queues at OMS shops said hike in prices of essentials put them into trouble at a time when most of them have to pay higher amounts for house rents and children's education.
"My income has not increased in line with the rising costs of living. House rent has been going up every year," said Babu Pal, a worker at a light engineering workshop.
To reduce the sufferings of the poor and ease prices, the government expanded its various safety net measures including doubling the number OMS outlets in Dhaka."People now think they will not go empty-handed as the number of OMS trucks have increased," said Md Mirazul Haque, OMS operation supervisor at Kamrangir Char Lohar Pool.
Buyers look for saving at least Tk 50 by purchasing 5 kg of rice from a fair price point. They said the saved amount helps them to buy vegetables or spend on other family purposes."We do not need to stand here if market prices are affordable. Even cooking oil and vegetables have become pricey," said a housewife Sultana Ahmed Dipa.
OMS dealers said the government sells sunned rice two days a week, which finds very few buyers. They gather in large numbers when boiled rice is sold during the other weekdays.Ahmad Hossain Khan, director general of Directorate of Food, claimed the crowding at OMS outlets has eased after the increase in fair price points.
Now rice stocks do not deplete faster, he said adding, nearly 2,000,000 people are getting the benefit due to expanded OMS operation across the country.He also hoped prices of rice would drop to Tk 26-27 per kg within this month.The government last week decided to add another 50 truckloads of rice to the present OMS quantity from this week.
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