Aid for poor people and destitute women shrinks

The price of rice is quite high in the market. The price of good quality coarse rice is Tk 55. The price of fine rice is also quite high. Amid this situation government rice distribution has decreased.  Same is the situation in case of wheat distribution.

Government food distribution is quite significant to keep the market under control and help the poor. According to the food directorate, the government has distributed a total of 1,765,000 tonne rice and wheat from 1 July 2024 to 20 February, which is 11.2 per cent less as compared to the previous year.

Distribution of rice and wheat has been reduced by around 223,000 tonnes, rice by 185,000 and wheat by 38,000 tonnes. Analysing the situation, it has been revealed that food distribution has decreased in sectors such as aid to the poor, people at risk of food insecurity, destitute women and rural employment generation.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, a top food directorate official told Prothom Alo, the government agencies have reduced rice distribution from the food directorate following the regime change in August last year.

Most of the public representatives at the upazila and union parishad levels are absconding now. So the food distribution programme run through them has lost momentum. Overall the food distribution has dropped.

However, the food ministry sources say political regime change is not the only reason behind the decline in government food distribution. The official stock of rice has also declined. As a result, it was not possible to enhance the distribution of rice and wheat under the OMS or TCB programmes. The OMS programme is run by the food directorate. People wait in long queues in front of the OMS trucks to buy rice, flour or other items.

Experts say the long queues in front of the OMS trucks are evidence that people are struggling. The economic situation is not good at the moment. There are fewer opportunities for employment with a high inflation rate. So it is essential to enhance the government food distribution programmes. It will create a positive impact on the market. At the same, it would be quite helpful for the common people.

Grossly there are two sectors of food distributions – financial and relief. The financial sectors include programmes like ration, OMS and food friendly programmes. The relief based sector includes programmes like the food for work programme (Kabikha), test relief (TR), vulnerable group feeding (VGF) and general relief (GR). The poor, destitute and low income people receive aid through these programmes.

Only 179 tonnes of foods have been distributed in the last eight months under the Kabikha programme, which was 107,000 tonnes at the same time previous. Around 25,500 tonnes of foods have been distributed under the VGF programme which is almost half the amount it was in the last year at the same time. Some 187,000 tonnes of food have been distributed under the Vulnerable Women Benefit (VWB) programme, which is 25 per cent less as compared to last year.

However, food distribution has increased under the GR programmes. Some 52,000 tonnes of foods have been distributed in the last 8 months under the GR programme which is 7,303 tonnes more than the previous year. The deputy commissioners can distribute rice and wheat under the GR programme.

Food distribution under the OMS programme has reduced a little. A total of 753,000 tonnes of rice has been distributed under this programme in the last 8 months, which is 5,000 tonnes less as compared to previous.

Rice sale through the OMS programme has reduced more. Some 488,000 tonnes of rice has been sold in the last one month, which is 34,000 tonnes less than the last year. However, the distribution of wheat and coarse flour has increased. However, the flour market has been stable for a long time and wheat is available in the global market.

The allocation for the food friendly programme is still the same as before, 444,000 tonnes force. Under this programme, the people holding cards can buy 30 Kg of rice every month at a rate of Tk 15 per Kg. The programme is available for five months a year.

Significance of the option to buy food at cheap prices could be apprehended from the long queues in front of the TCB trucks.

The OMS trucks come after every two days. There were long queues of men women in front of trucks on Tuesday at around 12:00 pm.

Jharna Begum, 40, was one of those standing in the queue. Her husband is sick. She works as a housemaid at five places. She regularly buys rice from the OMS truck as the price is cheaper there.

Jharna Begum said, “The queues are long. Sometimes I had to return without any rice.”

Aleya Begum, 42, another woman in the queue, said, “It used to take around half an hour to get the rice before. But now we have to wait for at least an hour. It’s not possible for us to buy rice at Tk 60-70. So we come here despite all the hassle.”

The government sells rice at a price of Tk 30 per Kg under the OMS programme.

The price of good quality coarse rice is Tk 55 per Kg in the market at the moment. The price of regular coarse rice is Tk 52 per Kg. The Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) says the price of per Kg coarse rice is Tk 50-58. The price has been reduced by Tk 2 in a month. The price of coarse rice was Tk 48-50. As such, the price of coarse rice has increased by 10 per cent in a year.

However, an account of a month or year will not provide a clear picture of the rice market. The prices of rice have been increasing in phases since the outbreak of the Covid pandemic in 2020. The TCB figures show the price of coarse rice that year was Tk 30-35 per Kg, medium coarse rice Tk 40-50 and fine rice was Tk 45-60. The price of medium coarse rice now stands at Tk 58-65 per Kg and the price of fine rice is Tk 72-85.

Speaking to Prothom Alo, wholesaler Janata Rice Agency owner Mohammad Russel said the price of ‘Guti’ rice is Tk 51 per Kg and the price of ‘Shwarna’ rice is Tk 55 per Kg at his shop.

The food stock at government warehouses is less as compared to the previous year. According to the food directorate, the stock of rice and wheat was more than 1.6 million tonnes last year. It has dwindled to Tk 1,517,000 tonnes this year. Mainly the stock of rice has dwindled. The government had a stock of more than 1,366,000 tonnes of rice at this time last year. It decreased to 1,083,000 tonnes this year.

Mahbubur Rahman, director of the Movement, Storage and Silo Division, Directorate General of Food told Prothom Alo that the collection of Boro rice was not up to the mark this year. The deadline for the government contract for collecting boro rice ended on 31 August and it was not extended later. It would be possible to collect an additional amount of 200,000 metric tonnes of rice had it been extended.

Not only Boro, the collection of Aman rice was also less as compared to last year. The government set a target to collect 300,000 tonnes of paddy, 550,000 tonnes of parboiled rice and 100,000 tonnes of Atap rice. As of 2 March, the government has collected a total of 513,000 tonnes of parboiled and Atap rice, which is 79 per cent of the target. However, as of 2 March, the government has collected only 26,511 tonnes of paddy, which is 7.57 per cent of the target set by the government. The deadline to collect paddy and parboiled rice is already over.

Meanwhile, there has not been any notable rise in exports. The food ministry decided to import 1 million tonnes of rice due to the loss in Aman production caused by the flood in August last year. The country has imported 200,000 tonnes of rice so far.

Speaking to Prothom Alo Food directorate director (purchase) Md Moniruzzman said, “The government has purchased 100,000 tonnes of rice from Myanmar on G2G basis. Bangladesh will receive another 100,000 tonnes of rice from Myanmar. The country will also purchase 100,000 tonnes of rice from Vietnam and 50,000 tonnes from Pakistan under G2G. Besides, the ministry has called for 10 tenders to purchase 500,000 tonnes of rice. Bangladesh will receive these consignments of rice by April.”

Moniruzzaman, “Rice is being imported from India at a private level. We hope there will not be any rice crisis.”

The food directorate figures show, Bangladesh imported 264,000 tonnes of rice at private level from July to 4 March. The government has reduced duty tax from 62 per cent to 3 per cent to increase import. However, it has not increased that much as rice import is not that profitable considering the price of rice in the global market and the value of the dollar.

Meanwhile, the price of rice is falling in the global market. According to the World Bank, the price of 5 per cent broken rice was USD 496 per ton in December, which dwindled to USD 402 in February. As a result the price of rice has reduced by Tk 11.5 per Kg, which is Tk 2 in Bangladesh. The price of rice exported from Vietnam would be around Tk 49.5 per Kg excluding the shipping cost, other relevant costs and the profit of the traders.

The traders say the price of dollars have increased by more than 40 per cent in the last two years. So, it is not profitable to import rice to Bangladesh despite the rice prices falling to a level as it was before the start of the Russia-Ukraine war.

Based on the survey on household income and expenditure conducted in 2022, the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) said some 42 per cent of the average income of common people is spent on food.  The percentage of food expenditure rises when the income is low.

Selim Raihan, DU professor at the Department of Economics, said, “The interim government should have prioritised ensuring rice at a cheaper price for low income people.”

He further said, “The poor and low income people are the main beneficiary of these government programmes. Such programmes should not be shrunk under any situation. If government programmes are shrunk this way, then it is a matter of great concern.”

Selim Raihan, “Allegations that financial allocations are used politically won’t stand in this case. If the government aid stops, then the poor will be under further crisis.”

*This report appeared on the print and online versions of Prothom Alo and has been rewritten in English By Ashish Basu