Thousands deprived of OMS rice in Barishal
The special Open Market Sale (OMS) programme to provide rice at Tk 10 per kg started in April to help those outside safety net during the Covid-19 pandemic.
As part of this programme, Barishal City Corporation (BCC) was set to be allocated the rations by the food department according to the city corporation's enlistment of people who meet the criteria.
For the first month, BCC sent a list of 8,000 people, said a Barishal Regional Food Department official, requesting anonymity. After cross-checking, the department provided 10kg rice for each name on the list.
For May, the department allocated rice for 18,000 people under BCC. However, the city corporation provided only 12,400 names. As a result, the allocated rice for the other 5,600 will now have to be returned to the food department, although there are many people in the city who need the rations.
One such individual, Azahar Mia, a rickshaw puller from Ward 2, said he was unable to enlist his name for the special OMS rice allocation, although he's eligible for it.
In spite of this, the food department decided to allocate rice for another 30,000 people under the programme for this month. But this phase hangs in the balance too, as BCC is yet to submit a list, and failure to do so within the next couple of weeks may lead to termination of the allocations yet again.
Faruque Hossain Sikder, regional controller (RC) of the Food Department, said BCC's failure to submit a complete list led to the squandering of 5,600 people's allocation for May. There is a fear that the same will happen for a portion of June's allocation too, he said.
Asked to explain this failure, the RC expressed frustration in this gross mishap. "When people are starving, this failure is simply a tragic case of mismanagement," he said. If the list is not compiled in time, thousands of people will be deprived of rations they are entitled to, he added.
Gazi Moinul Hossain Litu, panel mayor of BCC and councillor of Ward-19, said at first each was asked to prepare lists for 450 people. They submitted the lists and people received the rice accordingly.
With the increase in allocation, the food department has advised to add another 450 people from each ward. Ward administrations have signed this proposal and the renewed lists will be submitted soon, he added.
However when contacted, a section of councillors -- under condition of anonymity -- said they are not being involved in the special OMS rice distribution process.
Moajjem Hossain, BCC's administrative officer-in-charge of the special OMS preparing list, said the list was being sorted out so that there's no mistakes.
Asked about BCC's failure to deliver a complete list for May, he said they were being cautious about enlistments and as a result it took some time to prepare the list, before which the deadline had been reached and parts of the allocation had to be returned.
The food department has formed a special OMS Divisional Approval Committee to approve and check the list sent by BCC, with the divisional commissioner as a convener, and the regional food officer as a member secretary of the committee.
If BCC can send the list in time, the committee can approve it swiftly. Any delay on BCC's part can delay the whole process, and end up depriving those the people who are in dire need of the rations right now.
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