Food minister warns officials against negligence in OMS food distribution

Food Minister Sadhan Chandra Majumder warned the officials concerned of jail and fine if negligence is found in the distribution of products under the Open Market Sale (OMS) programme.

"If there is any negligence in the distribution of OMS goods, the dealer and the officials concerned of the food department will be accountable, monitoring has already been strengthened," he said today while inaugurating the sale of rice and flour at subsidised prices through OMS cards in the capital's Mirpur.

The minister said if OMS products are distributed through cards, the tendency of taking rice and flour more than once will be stopped.

He added that it will also be easy to identify whether the cardholder is from another area and it will be possible to reach OMS goods to the real poor people.

He said 14 lakh beneficiaries will be able to collect rice and flour through the card and more beneficiaries will be brought under the programme in the future.

He instructed the officials concerned to remain watchful so that there is no duplication in the card disbursement.

The food minister said farmers will lose interest in production if they do not get a fair price for their produce. "To encourage them, the government has increased the paddy price by Tk2 per kg in the Boro procurement season," he said.

Food Secretary Md Ismail Hossain and Additional Director General of Directorate General of Food Md Abdullah Al Mamun addressed the function as special guests.

Later, the minister handed over packets of OMS rice and flour sold through cards to the beneficiaries at the centre.