Ultra poor in <i>char</i> areas left out of OMS of rice
Ultra poor people in char areas of Lalmonirhat Sadar upazila have to bear the brunt of price hike of rice as OMS centres at union level are yet to be opened.Photo: STAR
Several thousand ultra poor people living at different char (newly emerged landmass) areas on Teesta and Dharla river basin are yet to get the benefit of OMS of rice as five dealers are yet to get permission for running OMS centres at the union level in Lalmonirhat Sadar upazila. OMS of rice started in Lalmonirhat town on February 25, but poor people in the char villages have to purchase one kg of low quality rice for Tk 25 to 26 in the local market, whereas rice sells at Tk 22 a kg at OMS centres. "We, the ultra poor people in char villages are deprived of OMS facility that is available in town areas. It is difficult for us to purchase rice at government fixed price from there, as most of the char villages are about 10 to 14 kilometres off the town. So we have to purchase rice at high price from the local market,” Momena Begum, 40, a resident of Char Gokunda in Lalmonirhat Sadar upazila, said. "The government opens OMS facility for the ultra poor people but those in remote villages are deprived while town dwellers are enjoying its benefit,” said Salma Begum, another woman of the same village. The authorities decided to open 14 OMS centres in Lalmonirhat Sadar upazila -- nine in Lalmonirhat municipality areas and five others in nine unions of Sadar upazila. But the authorities concerned arranged letter of permission for nine dealers to open OMS centres in Lalmonirhat municipality on February 25, leaving out rural areas at the union level. Five dealers submitted all necessary papers for getting recruitment as OMS dealers for union areas to Lalmonirhat Sadar upazila food control office on February 24 but they are yet to get permission due to unknown reasons. At a press conference in Lalmonirhat Press Club on Tuesday noon, the five dealers -- Golam Mostafa, Umar Ali, Ayub Ali, Saiful Haque Mandol and Nazmul Haque Patwary said OMS centres in union areas could not be opened as Lalmonirhat DC is not giving permission to the dealers. When contacted, District Food Controller Abdus Salam said there is no need to open OMS centres at the union level, as nine OMS centres in the town area is sufficient to meet the demand. Denying the allegation of dealers, Lalmonirhat DC Mohammad Ala Uddin Fakir said food office has sent a letter to his office seeking permission to open five OMS centres at the union level, but copies of any government circular have not been submitted with the application.
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