When the media and civil society leaders asked authorities to bring down prices and take steps to provide relief to the people, Food Adviser (minister) Tapan Chowdhury, a leading industrialist, made a controversial statement, saying that there was nothing the government could do about the situation.

Chowdhury’s statement only added fuel to the flames and most people demanded his resignation. Dhaka University students took to the streets condemning him.

The irresponsible statement has prodded the government into seeking to make rice available at tolerable prices.

The Chief Adviser's Press Secretary Fahim Munaim announced after a meeting of the advisory council on Thursday that the government would introduce open market sale (OMS) outlets from January 9 in cities and distribute rice in rural areas through test relief (TR), food for work (FFW), vulnerable group feeding (VGF) and vulnerable group development (VGD) programmes.

The Bangaldeshi government has also decided import rice from India, Thailand, Myanmar and Vietnam on an emergency basis to meet the immediate need of one million tonnes until the next harvest in March.

“We're making all-out efforts to meet the immediate needs of rice,” said Agriculture Adviser C S Karim.