5.35 lakh Ctg people to get ration cards

In a bid to protect the poor and middle class from inflation, the Chattogram district administration has decided to issue ration cards to some 5.35 lakh people.

With this new move, which is slated to begin ahead of the upcoming month of Ramadan, the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) will provide daily commodities through the ration cards.

"During the Ramadan, the TCB will sell its products twice – at the beginning of the Ramadan and at the end – to individuals who have the ration card," Mominur Rahman, Chattogram deputy commissioner told The Business Standard.

Recently, several videos of people rushing to different places in Chattogram for TCB products went viral on social media. In addition to the long wait of people on the streets for TCB's products, incidents of clashes have also been reported.

There were also allegations that a group of unscrupulous people were collecting TCB products at low prices and selling them in the market every day and as a result the ordinary people were being deprived.

In view of these incidents, the district administration of the port city has decided to introduce ration cards instead of selling goods in TCB trucks.

Welcoming the move, many Chittagong dwellers said they think there is no alternative to ration cards to provide food security to middle class and lower class people.

Khalid Chowdhury of Kamal Bazar Traders' Association said, "A group of dishonest people are selling TCB's rice, pulses and oil in the open market and the TCB do not monitor these. So if TCB products are sold through ration cards, such practice can be prevented."

Monwar Ahmed, a resident of the Chandgaon area of ​​the city, said if the district administration can implement the move properly, the low-income people will benefit from it.

"If most people of the country can be brought under rationing like the army and the police then food security of these people can be ensured. Unscrupulous traders will not have the opportunity to manipulate the market and prices would be stable," he added.

However, eminent citizens cautioned that the issuance of ration cards should be properly supervised to avoid political favouritism.   

They say that in the past the poor were deprived when such programs were handed to political leaders.

Advocate Akhtar Kabir Chowdhury, general secretary of Shujan's Chittagong unit, said, "The district administration must create its own database through its own investigation. If the councillors, chairmen and members are tasked with this there will be a possibility of nepotism and politicisation, leaving the lower and middle class deprived."

Md Mahmud Ullah Maruf, additional deputy commissioner of Chattogram, told The Business Standard that the district administration is working to issue family cards in the form of ration cards.

"We have already prepared a list. In the first phase, the government is providing cards to those who were listed for humanitarian assistance earlier. The rest of the cards will be given through the local representatives," he added.

Previously, 50 lakh people across the country have been enjoying the ration card facility. On 16 April, 2020, in the middle of the pandemic, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina announced that ration cards would be issued to another 50 lakh million people in the country.