Shawdesh desk:

Low and middle-income people are thronging the trucks of Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) in the capital to buy essential commodities at subsidised rates amid their skyrocketing prices.

TCB has launched a month-long essentials selling program in the capital on Sunday ahead of the holy Ramadan to sell commodities at subsidised rates among 10 million lower-income families throughout the country.

As part of the programme, the state-run agency will sell onion, green peas, dates, sugar, lentils and soyabean oil in the capital in two phases- the first phase will continue till March 24 and the second phase will begin from March 27 and will continue till April 24.

The subsidised products are being sold in every ward area under two city corporations through dealers and 150 trucks.

Usually the lower-income groups are the target population for subsidised food sales, but the middle-income groups are increasingly joining the queues in the wake of the recent price hike of essentials.

“Fall in income coupled with soaring essentials price have forced more people to depend on subsidies shops,” said Ghulam Rahman, Chairman of Consumer Association of Bangladesh (CAB).

A long queue of people was seen in and around the designated place for a TCB sale centre near Shia Masjid in Mohammadpur. Latifa Begum, 50 years old woman, was standing in the queue since 9:00 am on Wednesday, a few hours before the TCB truck ever reached the sale centre.

“Due to huge rush of people, the trucks often run out of foods in a few hours,” she said, adding that the truck will arrive at 11:00 am and complete its sale by around 1:00 pm.

“My husband works at a private company and earns Tk 20,000 per month. We spend Tk 12,000 on rent, Tk 2,000 on utility bills and use the rest of the money to buy food and meet other expenses for our four-member family,” she said.

Md. Safikul, a day labourer who was also waiting in the queue, told the Daily Sun that the TCB truck ran out of goods before his turn came yesterday.

He earns Tk 7,000 per month. After spending Tk, 4,000 on house rent, he said it has been really difficult to afford regular meals with the rest of his income.

The skyrocketing price of essentials has been severely affecting the purchasing capacity of people, said CAB chairman Golam Rahman.

He also said the fixed income groups are the worst victims of the soaring prices of essential commodities.

The country-wide selling program in metropolitan cities, districts, upazilas and unions will start from March 15 to continue till March 27.

A person would be able to buy a maximum of 2 kgs of sugar at Tk 55 per kg, 2 litres of soybean oil at Tk 110 per litre, 2 to 5 kgs of onion at Tk 30 per kg and 2 kgs of lentil at Tk 65 per kg.