Dhaka: Coarse rice is actually being sold in the market in name of miniket as the coarse rice is made the fine one with special polishing machines for maximizing profit, according to a study.

If the coarse rice is made fine one, its normal food quality gets lost, says the study conducted by Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS).

The study findings were placed at a meeting of a parliamentary body on Sunday.

After reviewing the report, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Planning Ministry suggested the government to launch a massive awareness campaign against the forgery through different ministries.

The meeting was held at the parliament with its chairman Abul Kalam Azad in the chair.

"A BIDS study has proved that the rice we purchase from the market in name of miniket is actually the coarse one. It's a tactic to maximise profit by selling coarse rice at higher prices by making those fine ones and making those shiner with special polishing machines. This is how the rice loses its normal food quality," said a handout quoting the meeting proceedings.

It also said the BIDS conducted 107 studies from 2008 to 2017. Of the studies, 44.17 percent researches was conducted with government funds, while 52.36 percent with private funds and 3.47 percent with its own fund.

The parliamentary body suggested the BIDS to conduct more effective studies on how the massive looting of money from the banking sector can be checked and how the share market can be stabilised.

It also recommended different ministries to send project proposals to the Planning Commission after carrying out adequate pragmatic studies in the interest of country.

Committee members Planning Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal, Maj Gen (retd) Rafiqul Islam, Mohibur Rahman Manik and Md Tajul Islam attended the meeting. State Minister for Finance and Planning MA Mannan was present at the meeting on a special invitation.