OMS to cut rice price

It is good to know that the government is going to introduce OMS (open market sale) to bring the price of the staple grain of rice within the people’s reach. The price  of various varieties of rice has already gone beyond the purchasing capacity of common people and many are switching to rather cheaper wheat flour for their primary source of carbohydrate despite the fact that rice is the staple food of almost all Bangladeshis. People indeed can take roti in place of rice, but that is not the point here and price of rice must come down to purchasing capacity of the consumers as a whole.

The food minister said that there is a political motive as well as manipulation of price by millers and wholesalers behind the present hike of price and this also is not the case in point here because it is the responsibility of the government to foil any conspiracy and bust the syndicates of millers and wholesalers in the first place. What the people want to see that rice in their plate is assured perpetually.

Some days ago, in mid-August, the government reduced the import duty on rice from 10 per cent to 2 per cent to make the price stable. Before that, the government also revised the duty on rice import and the duty was cut down to 10 percent from 25 percent. Moreover, another three percent regulatory duty was also withdrawn during the period. Though initially this approach indeed created a positive impact on the market, but the impact was short-lived and price started to soar again. And now price of a 50-kg sack of any variety is being sold in the market with Tk 500 increase in general.

However, the present step of introducing OMS ought to be sincere and well-managed so that the benefit of this must not go to hands of the opportunists. Apart from this, the government ought to ensure sufficient stock of the commodity by importing it. It is also important to put in place a strong monitoring of the rice market so that syndicates of rice dealers cannot make the market unstable.

However, all these measures have to be taken immediately. But the government ought to take long-term steps to increase rice production domestically decreasing our dependence on import. For this, it is necessary to take a more farmers-friendly agricultural policy.          

 

 

 

OMS to cut rice price

It is good to know that the government is going to introduce OMS (open market sale) to bring the price of the staple grain of rice within the peoples reach. The price of various varieties of rice has already gone beyond the purchasing capacity of common people and many are switching to rather cheaper wheat flour for their primary source of carbohydrate despite the fact that rice is the staple food of almost all Bangladeshis. People indeed can take roti in place of rice, but that is not the point here and price of rice must come down to purchasing capacity of the consumers as a whole. The food minister said that there is a political motive as well as manipulation of price by millers and wholesalers behind the present hike of price and this also is not the case in point here because it is the responsibility of the government to foil any conspiracy and bust the syndicates of millers and wholesalers in the first place. What the people want to see that rice in their plate is assured perpetually. Some days ago, in mid-August, the government reduced the import duty on rice from 10 per cent to 2 per cent to make the price stable. Before that, the government also revised the duty on rice import and the duty was cut down to 10 percent from 25 percent. Moreover, another three percent regulatory duty was also withdrawn during the period. Though initially this approach indeed created a positive impact on the market, but the impact was short-lived and price started to soar again. And now price of a 50-kg sack of any variety is being sold in the market with Tk 500 increase in general. However, the present step of introducing OMS ought to be sincere and well-managed so that the benefit of this must not go to hands of the opportunists. Apart from this, the government ought to ensure sufficient stock of the commodity by importing it. It is also important to put in place a strong monitoring of the rice market so that syndicates of rice dealers cannot make the market unstable. However, all these measures have to be taken immediately. But the government ought to take long-term steps to increase rice production domestically decreasing our dependence on import. For this, it is necessary to take a more farmers-friendly agricultural policy.