OMS line getting longer day by day

Noman Mosharef :
The queue of people in front of the government-run special programme Open Market Sales (OMS) for low and middle income group people under the Food Ministry is getting longer day by day.
The poor people are finding it increasingly hard to maintain their family as almost all of daily essentials price in the market are went beyond their buying capacity.
Sadly, people from lower-middle as well as middle class are also seen joining the queue to purchase essentials.
Under the OMS programme, the government sells rice at Tk 30 a kg, loose flour at Tk 24 a kg, and a packet of 2-kg flour at Tk 55. A customer can purchase maximum five kg of rice and five kg of loose flour or two packets of 2-kg flour.
Amzad Ali, a day labour from capital Mohamadpur area, came to Mohammadpur bus stand area around 7:30am on Sunday to buy essentials from OMS at an affordable price.
Like everyone else, he stood in queue in front a truck selling rice and flour. After standing for about four hours, a tired Amzad Ali sat on the ground. Daily wage earner Shahjan Mrida, too, followed him.
Amzad Ali sustained injuries on the back in a road accident several months ago, he cannot work regularly. His daughter sells bead garland and earns about Tk 3,000 a month. He runs his five-member family with about Tk 13-16 thousand a month.
Safura Begum from Gudaraghat area came to Mirpur 2 area for household work. She, stood in the OMS line on Sunday morning after working at two houses. She will also work at two more houses after purchasing goods from the OMS truck.
“Had the goods been sold at low price at markets, would I have been here? I work at people’s house for a living and I had to come leaving my job,” she lamented.
Amid the surge in essentials prices, people like Amzad Ali and Safura Begum are gathering every day in front of OMS trucks selling goods including rice and flour under the Food Ministry’s OMS programme.
A government employee was also in the line in front of the OMS truck in Mirpur 2. Wishing not to be named, the person, who is an office assistant at the Primary and Mass Education Ministry, said he has been purchasing goods from OMS truck for two months after flour price increases in markets.
He takes a two-hour break every Sunday to buy essentials for the OMS truck. “I can buy a packet of 2-kg flour at Tk 55 here instated of spending Tk 150 at local market for same amount of product. I come because I am left with no other option.”
According to this government employee, his several colleagues also purchased essentials from OMS points.
Wishing anonymity, an official of the Directorate General of Food who is tasked with the monitoring of OMS programme in Mirpur area said that he had not seen so many people before OMS trucks before and crowds are increasing every day.
Previously, sale of goods on trucks did not end until evening, but now all goods were sold at most 3:00pm, the officials added.
Meantime, the government increased OMS points in Dhaka and will sell rice and flour at 20 new points. A distributor of OMS sells 2,000 kg of rice and 1,000 kg of flour daily.
When asked, the chief controller of Dhaka Rationing Office, Suraiya Khatun, said that previously such huge crowd had not come to OMS trucks. “We will apply to higher authorities to increase allocation of rice and flour for people,” she added.