Bangladesh yesterday signed an agreement with four Indian state-owned agencies on importing the remaining 4 lakh tonnes of rice out of the 5 lakh tonnes at $430 per tonne.
India had promised to export the rice to Bangladesh following cyclone Sidr last year. Of the rest 1 lakh tonne, 12,000 tonne has already been imported and 46,700 tonne is scheduled to arrive within
April 10, a food ministry press release said.
Meanwhile, the price of rice is increasing across the country every day despite adequate supply and the government's safety net programmes like open market sale (OMS) and direct sale, intensifying sufferings of people belonging to the middle and lower classes.
The wholesale prices of rice of different varieties increased by Tk 10-30 per maund yesterday.
Local coarse rice was selling at She Jatly ^tar
Tk 1,250-1,300 permaund; its price was Tk 1,220-1,270 the previous day. The price of Indian Swama also rose by Tk 10 per maund at wholesale markets.
The price of better quality Miniket soared to Tk 1,650-1,700 per maund yesterday from the previous day' sTk 1,620-1,650.
The coarse rice was selling at Tk 35-40 per kg at retail markets.
Wholesalers at Karwan Bazar, Mohammadpur Krishi Market, Babubazar and Badamtoli said the price of rice in rural markets is increasing every day, which has affected the city markets.
A wholesaler at Karwan Bazar said he has a stock for 15 days and he had purchased it at lower rates.
"I sent an employee to Chapainawabganj to buy rice but he told me that the price of rice was quite high there. The price at rural markets is equal to what I am charging here. Moreover, I have to bear the carrying cost So, how can I sell nee at a lower price?" he said.
"It does not matter at what rate I purchased the rice 15 days ago--what matters is the present rate," he added.
A few businessmen at Babubazar and Badamtoli wholesale markets said crisis of rice in international market curtailing export by some rice-exporting countries and India's sudden decision to stop exporting caused the price hike.
They admitted that the supply of nee to markets is adequate and pointed out that Boro rice will be arriving soon, but said traders usually tend to take opportunity of these incidents.
When contacted, food ministry Secretary Mollah Waheeduzzaman told The Daily Star that he does not see any logical reason behind the price hike of rice as the country has a reserve for three months and Boro rice will soon enter the markets.
Hiking the price of rice is a trick of the unscrupulous businessmen," he said.
A high official of Food Directorate said the government has taken up many programmes to stabilise the market and help relieve people of the increased price of rice.
Meanwhile, the directorate increased the number of points of direct sale of rice from trucks loaded with 3.060 kilograms of rice at differ -ent locations in the capital. Employees of the directorate sell nee on Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday.
The Food Directorate started selling nee on April 1.
Director General of Food Directorate Pius Costa said they will increase the number of direct sale points to 50 from Sunday.
Hundreds of customers were seen yesterday queuing up at the direct sale points in front of the latiya Press Club and secretariat gate-1 where the sales finished
around 3:15pm.
Assistant Sub-inspector of the Food Directorate Nazmul Haque said they had been selling rice from 9:00am. He said they would continue selling rice until all the rice loaded in the trucks is sold.
' I came here during launch hour but found the place jam-packed with customers. I returned to my office after waiting in the queue for half an hour. I came here again at 3:30pm but found all the rice had already been sold." said Daud Hossain, an MLSS at the office of Comptroller General of Account at Segunbagicha.
Khaleda Begum, a cleaner at the secretariat, said her family has been suffering badly due to the steep rise in rice price.
She came to the Press Club point after failing to buy rice at the secretariat point She stood in the queue from 3:00pm but all the rice had been sold before her turn came.
Many others like Khaleda Begum had to return home from the direct sale points empty handed.
A few third and fourth-class employees of the secretariat demanded that the authorities make arrangements for selling rice at these outlets after office hours.
Meanwhile, a large number of people yesterday thronged the BDR fair price outlets to buy rice. Rice is sold at 50 BDR outlets in the city six days a week.
The city's 700 OMS outlets, where rice is sold three days a week, remained closed yesterday. AGREEMENT ON RICE IMPORT Wasiuddin Ahmed, commercial minister of Bangladesh High Commission in Demi, signed the agreement with representatives of the four Indian state-owned agen-cies--Slate Trading Corporation of India Ltd, Minerals & MetalsTrading Corporation, National Agriculture Co-operative Marketing Federation of India Ltd, and PEC Ltd--for importing 4 lakh tonnes of rice from India.
Each agency will supply 1 lakh tonnes of rice.
Of the 4 lakh tonnes of rice, 1 lakh tonne will arrive in Bangladesh within 30 days while the rest in the next 30 days, said a food ministry press release.
Letters of credit (LC) for exporting the rice will be opened on Sunday.
Meanwhile, 12,500 tonnes of rice and 1,000 tonnes of skimmed powdered milk have arrived in Bangladesh from India. The neighbouring country had pledged to give 40,000 tonnes of rice, 10,000 tonnes of wheat and 1,000 tonnes of skimmed powdered milk as part of its food assistance to Bangladesh following cyclone Sidr,
About 7,500 tonnes of rice arc expected to arrive in Chittagong Port in a few days, said a press release of rhe Indian High Commission In Dhaka.