Staff Reporter :
The government is working to finish most of its seasonal Aman rice procurement ahead of the national election slated for mid-February, Food Adviser Ali Imam Majumdar said on Thursday.
He made the comments after formally launching this year’s Aman procurement drive.
Speaking to journalists at the Ministry of Food, Majumdar said that although the procurement programme will run until February 28, field-level food officials at the district and upazila levels will become deeply engaged in election duties by mid-February.
“Considering this, all officers have been instructed to achieve the collection targets before mid-February. Any negligence will not be tolerated,” he warned.
Majumdar said the government intends to leave behind a stable and adequate food stock for the next administration.
“The aim is to complete almost the entire procurement target before the election. We are firmly committed to that,” he said.
For this season, the procurement prices have been fixed at Tk 34 per kg for paddy, Tk 50 for parboiled rice, and Tk 49 for atap rice. Agreements with millers have already been concluded, and procurement officially kicked off on Thursday.
The government has set minimum targets of 50,000 tons of paddy, 600,000 tons of parboiled rice, and 50,000 tons of atap rice.
According to Majumdar, these figures are only the basic threshold. “The higher the volume we can procure, the less we will need to rely on imports,” he said.
He added that maintaining sufficient food reserves is essential for the Public Food Distribution System, and the government works to keep stocks at a secure and satisfactory level. This year’s Boro procurement reached an all-time high, he noted.
Majumdar also pointed to the expansion of the public food distribution network. The Food Friendly Programme now includes an additional 500,000 beneficiaries, raising coverage to 5.5 lakh families. Each family receives 30 kg of rice per month at Tk 15 per kg.
The duration of the programme has also been extended from five months to six. “We believe these measures will help stabilise rice prices in the market for an extended period,” he added.
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