3.7mn duplicate TCB cards revoked, says Commerce Advisor Bashir

Around 6.3 million families with smart cards will get rice at reasonable prices from this week

Several duplicate TCB cards were distributed to certain families in the past through the forging of NID cards, Commerce Advisor Sheikh Bashir Uddin says.

An opportunity has arisen to include 3.7 million more families in the subsidised goods distribution programme with the cancellation of such 3.7 million counterfeit cards after the formation of the interim government, he said while speaking to journalists after a meeting with a delegation led by Turkish Trade Minister Ömer Bolat on Thursday.

Asked why 6.3 million smart cards had been distributed when the Awami League government had said some 10 million TCB family cards in circulation, Bashir said: "There was huge corruption among the 10 million cards with the same families getting multiple cards by forging NIDs through trickery. Not a single family has been left out by revoking 3.7 million cards of the 10 million cards.”

"The goods are being sent to the right people. Those who had duplicate cards have been removed. Not a single family was dropped."

The commerce advisor said the authorities want to add another 3.7 million cards.

“If it is possible to increase it beyond 10 million by bringing transparency in procurement and marketing - we will do that too," he added.

Noting that the members of the public are suffering due to soaring rice prices, he said the crisis is “temporary”.

Asked how the government is preparing to keep the commodity prices in check during the month of Ramadan, Bashir said: "We are fully prepared for Ramadan. At the moment, we are taking various steps to stabilise the rice market. We have liberalised imports.”

"There was a duty of about 63 percent on rice imports, but we have brought it down to 3 percent. At present, several hundred thousand tonnes of rice are being imported directly under the food ministry from Myanmar, India, and Pakistan."

Stating that the Aman season is now in full swing, he said: “Boro paddy will arrive by April. We hope that the temporary situation that has been created in the market for the next three months from now to April, will be fixed, Inshallah."

The advisor continued, "To the best of our knowledge, weather factors, floods, and different circumstances may have led to the rise in rice prices. Our own data says there is no shortage of rice."

“There is no shortage in the government reserves. Even after that, at the preparatory stage, we have made imports more liberal to handle the shortage that we are seeing in the rice market. We hope that when the imports start, if someone has stockpiled unfairly, they will be forced to leave this stockpile and the market will return to normal.”

Bashir said the government is making full use of the rice sold through the TCB.

“We have increased the supply of rice in the market. The initiative to provide rice to 5 million families at a low price is set to begin. The TCB will start providing rice to 6.3 million families with smart cards from this week."