Govt to revive fair-price card system soon: Food Minister; There is no food crisis in country, he says

By AKM Moinuddin

Dhaka, Oct 27 (UNB) - The government has decided to restart its fair price card (FPC) system as soon as possible to reach rice to hardcore poor people at cheaper price, Food Minister Dr Abdur Razzaque said on Wednesday.
The FPC system was introduced in September last year but its operation was suspended during the month of Ramadan.
“Initially, we’ll restart the program in Dhaka metropolitan areas and it’ll be gradually expanded to other parts of the country,” the Food Minister told the journalists after emerging from a meeting this (Wednesday) afternoon.
The meeting with Food Minister Abdur Razzaque in the chair was attended by MPs from Dhaka metropolitan areas, Awami League leaders from city different wards and leaders of the AL-led alliance government.
Talking to journalists, Dr Razzaque said there is no food crisis in the country. “We’ve sufficient food stock…the price of rice has increased in local market following the price-hike on the international market.”
Replying to a question, he said the government has plans to include more features in the FPC system so that other essential commodities can also be provided to the targeted people at cheaper prices.
At present, over 11 lakh people across the country have fair price cards. Of them, 5.84 lakh are from Dhaka metropolitan areas. Under the fair price cards, people will get 20 kgs of rice at Tk 24 per Kg every month.
Replying to a question, the Food Minister said the government did not politicize the awarding of fair price cards. Even it was totally fair in selecting dealerships for the OMS.
He directed all concerned to ensure access of grassroots-level people including slum dwellers to OMS service.
Home Minister Adv Sahara Khatun, State Minister for Law adv Kamrul Islam, Rashed Khan Menon MP, AKM Rahmat Ullah MP, Dr Mostafa Jalal Mohiuddin MP and Barrister Sheikh Fazle Noor Tapash MP were, among others, present at the meeting.
END/UNB