OMS of rice stopped in Rangpur

Open market sale (OMS) of rice has been stopped in the district though full scale IRRI-Boro harvest is still about two weeks away.

This has created a problem for the poor people who used to buy rice from OMS dealers at subsidized rates.

The OMS programme was scheduled to continue till harvest of IRRI-Boro but stopped on Sunday.

Hundreds of poor people are crowding the 303 OMS dealer shops in eight upzilas in the district. But they are returning home empty handed as the programme was stopped without any prior notice.

When contacted, the District Food Controller told The

Daily Star that the OMS has been stopped following a directive from higher authorities.