Dhaka: State Minister for Food Md. Abdul Bari today emphasized the government’s commitment to ensuring food security for the country’s extreme poor. ‘Through the food-friendly programme, 30 kg of rice is being distributed to 5.5 million families in 495 upazilas for 6 months a year (August-November and March and April) at a price of Tk 15 per kg per family per month,’ he stated in response to a written question from opposition party MP elected from Nilphamari-3, Obaidullah Salafi.
According to Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha, the State Minister highlighted that a total of 10 lakh metric tons of rice has been allocated in the budget for this sector in the 2025-26 fiscal year. Until March 19, 2026, approximately 7.93 lakh metric tons of general rice have been distributed, accounting for about 79.25% of the allocated budget.
Additionally, under the same programme, 3.07 lakh metric tons of rice enriched with essential vitamins and minerals are being provided to 248 upazilas over 5 months of the 2025-26 fiscal year to meet the nutritional needs of the poorest, he noted.
To ensure food security of the low-income population through market price control, the OMS (General) program administers 1,091 sales centers across 12 city corporations, 14 labor-intensive districts, and 52 district headquarter municipalities. These centers are distributing 1,185 metric tons of rice and 1,432 metric tons of flour daily at designated prices.
Moreover, as a special initiative to control rice prices, 406 metric tons of rice are sold daily in upazila markets through 836 sales centers in 418 upazilas at Tk 30 per kg. For the 2025-26 fiscal year, the OMS budget includes 3 lakh metric tons of rice and 5.25 lakh metric tons of wheat, with 2.09 lakh MT of rice and 3.27 lakh MT of wheat flour sold by March 19, 2026, which is about 70% of the allocated budget.
The State Minister further mentioned that in response to a request from the Ministry of Commerce, the Food Department is selling 33,833 MT of rice to 67,66,667 families via TCB at Tk 30 per kg every month.