Coarse flour: Khulna millers stop supply disrupting OMS service

Food Department officials have blamed the millers for an artificial crisis that has arisen over the supply of coarse flour or atta for OMS.

Food Department officials have blamed the millers for an artificial crisis that has arisen over the supply of coarse flour or atta for the Open Market Sale (OMS) program in Khulna.
The mill owners refused to supply atta on Wednesday in line with the new directives of extracting 79% flour from wheat, instead of 77%, and sending the atta to government warehouses because “their profit margin has shrunk a little”, Khulna regional food controller Selimul Azad told this.
“From now on, everything is being monitored as per the announcement of the Food Ministry. Due to this reason, some dishonest mill owners are sitting on the back burner,” he added.
Due to the crisis, none of the 24 dealers could sell atta in Khulna on Tuesday and Wednesday, frustrating the low-income people as they cannot get flour at a fair price in the open market.
Abdul Jabbar Sheikh in Gabtala Mor area of Khalishpur explains his ordeals: it takes Tk50 to buy loose atta in the market which is not edible. So you have to buy a packet worth Tk60-70. And it takes Tk60 to buy one kg of rice. On the other hand, the OMS atta is available at a fair price of Tk18 per kg and rice at Tk30 per kg.
A person can buy a maximum of 5kg rice and 5kgs of atta a day. “I usually buy 1kg rice and 1kg atta. The quality of this atta given by the government is good. But on Tuesday, I couldn’t buy atta due to supply  4, I received rice but did not receive flour problem.”
Ayesha Begum of KDA New Market area said: “Poor people can't get diabetics treated properly. So we have to live by eating rooti. But I didn't get atta on Tuesday. Now we have to buy half a kg of flour at the price of Tk50-60 per kg from the market, or we have to buy bread from the shop and eat it. That too is costly.”
Md Noor Islam, owner of dealer Saiful Traders in New Market area, said: "None of the 24 OMS dealers in Khulna got atta on Wednesday due to some problems of the mill owners.”
Moti Mia, president of Khulna Mill Owners Association, said that earlier it was difficult to supply 77% coarse wheat because usually it is not possible to extract more than 65%. The mill owners were plunged into despair at the announcement of supplying 79% atta.”
Khulna Regional Food Controller Selimul Azad said: “Only 20kgs of atta has been raised. The mill owners were making a handsome profit with 77%. Due to giving 79%, the mill owners will not suffer, but the profit decreases slightly.”
Earlier, the dealers used to collect one ton of atta each from mill gate. As a result, the quality testing was not possible. Hence, from now, the mill owners have been asked to supply the atta to the warehouses first.
“As a result of such announcement, the mill owners have stopped picking wheat, causing sufferings for the needy people,” the food official added.
Prices of govt wheat and atta
According to Selimul Azad, the mill owners collect wheat from the government at the rate of Tk14 per kg. From that wheat, 77% (now 79) of atta was supplied to the government at the price of Tk16. The OMS dealers buy this from the government at the same rate and sell at Tk18.
Rubel Sheikh, a grocer in Gobarchaka area of Khulna, said that they sell loose atta at the rate of Tk50-55. And, the price of packet atta  of different companies is fixed at Tk60-65 per kg.
According to sources in the Ministry of Food, the OMS is a humanitarian aid program of the government. Through this, the government distributes food products to the poor families of the country at low prices. Efforts are made to continue the normal lifestyle of the poor and the ultra-poor. When market prices of rice and atta rises, the government begins OMS along with other programs to regulate the market.
The government provides subsidies in various ways. However, more subsidies are given in agriculture and food, while food subsidy goes mainly to free distribution of food items, sale of rice and atta through OMS service.