The New Nation - Internet Edition

BSS, Dhaka

Chief Adviser Dr Fakhruddin Ahmed yesterday said the government has taken steps to increase food stock through import and local procurement aiming at ensuring food safety in the country.

"It (government) has undertaken various programmes including Open Market Sale (OMS) as the prime objective of the present government is to keep prices of essential commodities within a tolerable limit," he said.

The Chief Adviser made the remarks while talking to press after making surprise visits to three BDR-run OMS outlets in the city's Mirpur, Agargaon and Pallabi areas.

Dr Fakhruddin Ahmed said the government attaches special importance to agriculture in the next budget to boost production, as there is no alternative of increasing production to keep the prices of essential commodities stable.

He said the government also gives utmost priority to employment generation to increase the purchasing capacity of people.

Listing various programmes of the government, he said VGD and VGF programmes have been intensified across the country as part of increasing social safety net.

Referring to seasonal employment, he said the present government has taken various steps for raising periodic job opportunities across the country especially in the rural areas.

In this connection, the Chief Adviser said the ministry of food has taken a Taka 100 crore project while the ministry of communications and LGED have taken similar programmes to this end.

Dr Fakhruddin Ahmed called upon the media to play a due role to keep the prices of essential commodities at a tolerable level under the present situation.

During his visit, the Chief Adviser talked to the waiting people, who came to buy rice from the BDR outlets, and enquired about whether they were facing any trouble in getting consumer goods from the OMS outlets.

The people requested the Chief Adviser to take steps so that one person could get 10-KG of rice instead of the existing five- KG.

In reply, Dr. Fakhruddin Ahmed told the people standing in long queues outside the BDR-run OMS outlet to keep patients saying Boro harvest has already been started. "You have no need to be worried and if necessary quantity would be increased," he added.

At Government Music College in Agargaon, the people informed the Chief Adviser that they are getting five-KG of rice per head at a cost of Taka 25 per KG. They also told him that they had to wait for long to get the rice due to the long queue.

The Chief Adviser told them that steps would be taken so that people could get the rice in a shortest possible time. In this context, he stressed increasing number of counters in every outlet to facilitate the process.

Later, he also visited the BDR-run OMS outlets near Bangladesh Bank Training Academy in Mirpur-2 and Kalayanpur BRTC Depot where he also talked to the people standing in long queues to buy rice from the BDR-run OMS outlets.

The Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) is selling rice from its 50 OMS outlets in the city. The number of outlets would be increased to 75 from next week due to demand of the people, sources said.

Secretary to the Chief Adviser's Office (CAO) Kazi M. Aminul Islam and Press Secretary to the Chief Adviser Syed Fahim Munaim, among others, accompanied the Chief Adviser during his visit.