Middle-class also joins long queues

Sumaiya Akter [pseudonym], wife of a college teacher, was spotted standing in the middle of a queue of over a hundred people in front of a truck sale of Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) at Jamal Khan Intersection last week.

As this correspondent observed the scene, the queue only kept getting longer.

Sumaiya, meanwhile, was seen anxiously responding to repeated phone calls.

"I am coming…just after a few minutes," she was heard saying.

When this correspondent approached her, she said she left her five-month-old baby being attended by her sister-in-law to buy groceries.

"My baby needs to be nursed and is crying. But what can I do? I have been waiting in the queue for 30 minutes now; I can't return empty-handed," she said.

Sumaiya also said it has become tough for her husband, a private college lecturer, to maintain the family with his limited income amidst the price hike of daily essentials.

"So, I have come here to buy some daily essentials from the TCB truck, as the prices here are almost half compared to shops," she added.

Badal Kanti Das, a retired schoolteacher, who was seen standing in a queue of truck sales by the Department of Agricultural Marketing (DAM) at Anderkilla Intersection, echoed her.

"I never thought I would have to stand in the queue of truck sales on the road, but now I don't have any other option," he said.

TCB and DAM have been selling essential commodities on Open Market Sales on trucks across different areas of the port city at lower prices compared to grocery shops. TCB started its recent OMS operation on October 24 in 20 points across the port city and will continue till November 30, said its officials.

DAM is operating OMS in 10 points across the city.

Once, it was largely the low-income people who resorted to buying essentials from these truck sales. The situation, however, is no longer the same, as inflation now comes hurting people from almost all walks of life, including those from middle-income groups.

As such, the queues in front of the trucks only got longer over time.

TCB is selling rice at Tk 30 per kg, lentils at Tk 60 per kg, and soybean oil at Tk 100 a litre, while DAM is selling a dozen eggs for Tk 110, potato at Tk 30 per kg, and onions at Tk 70 per kg. All the prices are far lower compared to different kitchen markets across the city, where the lentils are being sold for Tk 110-140 per kg, eggs at Tk 150 a dozen, potatoes for Tk 70 per kg, onions for Tk 110 per kg, and soybean oil for Tk 165 per litre.

Contacted, Shafiqul Islam, joint director of TCB in Chattogram, said a total of 7,000 people are getting TCB products at lower prices through 20 OMS truck sales in the port city daily.

Besides, a total of 3,963 families with family cards have been given TCB products once a month round the year, he added.