April 14, 2008	Monday	Rabi-us-Sani 7, 1429

DHAKA: A former Bangladesh agriculture minister and member of the Awami League presidium, Matia Chowdhury, queued at a government outlet to buy rice, on Saturday. But she returned empty-handed as the day’s stock had run out.

Matia Chowdhury, a firebrand student leader in the 1960s, stood in the queue for five and a half hours from 8:20 in the morning with common people amid scorching heat, but failed to get rice, eye witnesses said.

“I stood in the queue for five and a half hours but failed to get rice from there as it was already finished by this time,” Matia Chowdhury told the media.

“The inadequate supply created resentment among the people when they had to return with empty hands after waiting for four to five hours.”

Matia said that she along with at least 150 people had to leave the spot without rice due to non-availability of it, which was very frustrating for the people who buy rice from the open market.

Failed to control the rising prices of the essential commodities, including rice, the government began the open market sales for the low income groups of people a few months ago. The members of the Bangladesh Rifle (BDR) have been deputed to run these outlets across the country.The price of rice has gone up by 67 per cent over the past one year.

However, after finding the former minister in the queue, the BDR men brought some rice from a nearby outlet, but still failed to make up the shortage.

The officials of the outlet, however, offered her to take some rice, but she refused to break the queue.

“The sufferings of the people who go to buy rice from open market sale are really unbearable,” she said, adding that even the outlets of different areas did not open regularly.

“The inadequate open market sales will not resolve the food crisis,” she said.

“It is the time that the government should not pay heed to the advices of the donor agencies in tackling food crisis. It should rather activate the public sector Trading Corporation of Bangladesh to procure adequate foods from across the world, and thus intervene in the market with a view to bringing down the price.”