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Govt plans to cut price of rice under RMG food rationing

Refayet Ullah Mirdha
The government plans to reduce the price of the rice to be sold among garment workers under the proposed food rationing programme, said the top official of the Ministry of Food and Disaster Management.
T he programme is due to start from April 10.
Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) and the Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) are the two associations that proposed to the government to sell rice at Tk 15 a kg, instead of the previous Tk 18. The price of the staple food item recently declined in the local market, as its supply is plenty.
The association leaders also proposed the government fix rice prices at Tk 13.50 per kilogram at wholesale level from the government warehouses.
Earlier, the government fixed the wholesale price atTk 16.50 per kilogram and retail price atTk 18 per kilogram.
"We will discuss the proposal in the committee soon. But we are ready to start the operation as the government has a bountiful stockof rice at the moment," said Mukhlesur Rahman, secretary to the ministry.
According to an earlier decision, each worker will be able to buy 20 kilograms of rice per month after showing their service books or valid identity cards, Rahman said. Talking to The Daily Star, BGMEA President Abdus Salam Murshedy said 552 factories until Sunday have submitted their applications to the association to procure rice from the government warehouses and ration it to garment workers.
He said of the total 4,500 factories, a majority would participate in the programme to extend a support to workers, in the wake of the price hikes of basic commodities in the local market.
He said they would initially sell rice from Mirpur, Ashulia, and Savar in Dhaka, Konabari in Gazipur and Rupganj and Falulla in the industrially dense Narayanganj district.
The rationing of rice would gradually spread to other parts of the country, such as Chittagong and other industrial areas, he said.
BKMEA President Fazlul Hoque said it is assumed that primarily at least 5 lakh garment workers, out of 30 lakh, would directly be benefited from such an operation.
"If we get a good response from the workers, the programme would be continued for some time, maybe even a year, so that more and more workers are benefited," Hoque said.
He said if the government does not appoint its dealers to run the operation, the garment owners would appoint people from the factories to do the same.
reefat@thedailystar.net