TCB’s smart cards to be distributed by next January: Tipu

One crore family cards of the state-run Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) will be converted into smart cards and distributed among the beneficiaries within January or February next year, said Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi.

The minister also expressed his high hope that it would be possible to start distribution of smart cards from next month (October) as the work on converting TCB cards into smart cards is at the final stage.

The Commerce Minister said this while addressing the opening ceremony of TCB’s sale of essential items including rice at subsidized prices among one crore family card holders for the month of September organized by TCB at Indira Road Krira Chakra Ground in the capital today.

Tipu said that due to the global situation, the price of commodities has increased in all countries which have also impacted the commodity price situation in Bangladesh especially for oil, sugar and other imported products.

He said if the price increases in the international market, then usually the price of these products increases in the local market. Almost all edible oil and sugar have to be imported alongside lentil. For this reason, the price of these products has to be fixed in coordination with the international market, he added.

In response to a question on whether the number of TCB cards will be increased further, Tipu said that the matter would be considered if there are still eligible people to receive such essential items at subsidized prices.

“But, right now we want to limit ourselves to one crore,” he said adding that one crore family card means about five crore beneficiaries, because if a cardholder has an average of five family members, then the number of beneficiaries would be five crore.

In this regard, the Commerce Minister said that the initial decision was to make 50 lakh cards. But, following directives of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the number of family cards has been increased to one crore.

TCB Chairman Brigadier General Md. Ariful Hasan, Faridur Rahman Khan Iran, councilor of 27 No. ward of Dhaka North City Corporation, and senior officials of TCB were present on the occasion. (BSS)