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Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has given directives to take measures to import rice from alternative destinations to cover the dent in the food stock.
The government has already begun selling rice at subsidised prices and plans to sell 7.65 lakh tonnes of rice to more than 1.5 crore people from low-income backgrounds in three months under the Open Market Sale and Food Friendly Programme.
To cover up the stock depletion, the government is importing five lakh tonnes of wheat from Russia and 3.3 lakh tonnes of rice from Vietnam and India. It has already signed an MoU with Myanmar to import another 2 lakh tonnes of rice.
However, the PM asked officials not to be dependent on it, but rather explore more markets to refill food stock, said Cabinet Secretary Khandker Anwarul Islam.
The directive came at the cabinet meeting chaired by Hasina at the Prime Minister's Office.
Later, the cabinet secretary briefed reporters at the secretariat.
Mentioning that the food grain situation has been discussed at the cabinet meeting at length, Khandker Anwarul said currently, there are more than 20 lakh tonnes of food grains in stock in the country.
He said agreements have already been made with different countries to import the amount of rice that will go from the warehouses to the people for OMS and food-friendly programmes.
"In the last couple of days, the price of rice has decreased by Tk 4-5. The pressure on the people has reduced significantly due to OMS and food-friendly programmes," he said.
The cabinet secretary said he had recently held a meeting with several deputy commissioners and who reported that Aman's irrigation work is going well due to uninterrupted power supply from midnight to dawn in village areas.
In the meeting, the cabinet, in principle, approved the Bangladesh Institute of Management Act, 2022, reports BSS.
Besides, ratification of the Protocols Amending Articles 50 (a) and 56 of the Convention on International Civil Aviation was also cleared by the Cabinet in yesterday's meeting.
PM OPENS BEKUTIA BRIDGE
Meanwhile, the PM yesterday inaugurated the 1,493-metre "Bangamata Begum Fazilatun Nesa Mujib 8th Bangladesh-China Friendship Bridge" over Kacha River at Bekutia in Pirojpur, reports UNB.
The bridge has established uninterrupted road connectivity between Khulna and Barishal divisions.
The premier joined the event through a virtual platform from her office in the capital.
Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader and Chinese Ambassador to Bangladesh Li Jiming also spoke at the opening ceremony conducted by PM's Principal Secretary Ahmad Kaikaus.
The Chinese envoy said the bridge will give a strong boost to the development of southern Bangladesh.
To continue such a precious tradition of friendship, China is determined to build the 9th Bangladesh-China Friendship Bridge, he said. Experts from the two countries are already preparing for feasibility study on the project.
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