The lawmakers at a parliamentary body meeting pointed out the election pledge of reducing the price of rice to below Tk 12 per kilogram which now rose to Tk 18 to 20.

They also observed that the OMS (open market sale) price of rice is higher and asked the food ministry to bring down the price to keep it within the commoners' capacity.

The meeting of the parliamentary standing committee on estimate discussed overall situation of the food prices, stock and the ongoing OMS programme.

Opposition lawmakers were absent at the meeting held at the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban.

The BNP deputies attributed the instability in food grain prices in the market to the absence of appropriate government measures, meeting sources said.

"We have asked the food ministry to keep the food grains market stable by any means," Committee Chairman Syed Mehedi Ahmed Rumi told The Daily Star after the meeting.

The committee also asked the ministry to achieve the procurement target during the next boro season to face emergency needs as its procurement target could not be reached during the past aman season due to floods, said the committee chairman.

The lawmakers observed the ministry did not initiate appropriate measures against the unscrupulous traders responsible for unusual price hike of food grains.

"As the traders may manipulate the market, the government should take appropriate steps against the unscrupulous traders," said a member of the committee.

BNP lawmaker Rustam Ali Farazi said the party had pledged before the election that price of rice would be under Tk 12 per kg. But now it reached Tk 18 to 20.

Committee Member and BNP lawmaker Abu Hena said they want effective steps to control the price of food grains. "If necessary, the ministry should change its policy to keep the market stable," he told The Daily Star.

As the lawmakers questioned the food ministry's role in keeping the market stable, ensuring reserve of food grains and providing fair price to farmers, the ministry officials said the market would become stable soon as a result of OMS.

But Abu Hena said the OMS price of rice is also high. "If you want to make the market stable, you should lower the price under OMS," he told the ministry officials.

The government is selling rice at Tk 14.50 per kg in the OMS which was Tk 12 earlier.

Acting Secretary of the Ministry of Food and Disaster Management Fazlur Rahman told the parliamentary body meeting that price of food grains generally increases during the no-harvest period of February-March and October.

The food secretary said price of atta has risen because of low production of wheat as the farmers switched to maze last season.