Food crisis has no link with nature of govt, says CA
Chief Adviser Fakhruddin Ahmed talks to local people while visiting different open market sale (OMS) outlets in Narayanganj yesterady.Photo: PID
Chief Adviser (CA) Fakhruddin Ahmed yesterday said the question of political or non-political government has nothing to do with the current food situation in the country as temporary food shortages were seen in the past under elected governments at home and abroad.
Striking an optimistic note, Fakhruddin said the difficulties the country is now going through for food-price hike will be over soon if all, including political parties, professionals and business community, work unitedly.
The chief adviser was talking to reporters in Narayanganj after visiting some Open Market Sale (OMS) outlets in the district.
His observation on the nature of a government came as the press asked him whether a political government could better control the high prices of commodities now gripping the country.
Meantime, the government yesterday decided to increase the daily allocation of rice for Open Market Sale (OMS) programme in the capital and industrial pockets in Narayanganj by 200 tonnes.
The chief adviser noted that many countries in the world had witnessed food shortages in the past even when elected governments were in power.
Fakhruddin said he came to Narayanganj to see for himself how the dealers are selling rice and other essentials at subsidised prices there.
He said he identified two things at the OMS outlets: inadequate supply of rice and lack of management efficiency. He said the government would soon address the problem.
He said as was the case last month, the amount of OMS rice would be increased to some extent.
The chief adviser said the government is carrying out efforts to ensure increased supply of rice and improvements in efficiency at the fair-price outlets so that sufferings of the people who go there could be lessened.
"The main objective of the government is to supply as much rice as possible through VGF, VGD, and Kabikha programmes in rural areas and through OMS in urban areas before the arrival of Boro."
He said the government is providing food assistance through 45 lakh Vulnerable Group Feeding (VGF) and Vulnerable Group Development (VGD) cards across the country, covering 1.5 lakh to 1.8 lakh people if a family comprises three or four members.
He reiterated that increased allocations for agriculture and employment generation would be high on the list of priorities in next budget. Short- and mid-term measures would be taken to boost cereal productions.
Fakhruddin said special project for employment generation would be taken in a bid to build an employment-support system as employment opportunities sometimes dwindle.
The interim government chief visited OMS shops at Siddhirganj Pool, New Hajiganj and Tolaram College crossing and talked to people there.
Under the OMS programme, a family can buy 5kg of rice at Tk 25 per kg. Dealers run the outlets under the direct supervision of the food department.
Meantime, the chief adviser yesterday summoned a meeting shortly after returning to Dhaka from Narayanganj and directed the food ministry to increase daily allocation of rice for OMS programme in the capital and industrial zones in Narayanganj by 200 tonnes.
He also asked the authorities concerned to increase the number of OMS outlets in order to alleviate the sufferings of the buyers who now have to wait a long in the queue.
The additional supply of rice would be trucked to the fair-price shops where demand for rice is high but supply is inadequate.
Now a total of 586 tonnes of rice would be allocated daily for the OMS programme in Dhaka and Narayanganj dotted with industrial pockets.
The meeting also decided that the number of trucks being used for the OMS programme in the capital would be doubled to 100.
Food Adviser AMM Shawkat Ali, food secretary and a senior BDR official, among others, were present at the meeting.
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