As many as 232 widow allowance receivers have been made to purchase a lottery ticket each while drawing the monthly amount at Rajshahi Krishi Unnayon Bank on BDR Road in Lalmonirhat town.
Shah Alam, cashier of the bank branch, realised Tk 10, price of the ticket titled 'Probin Hospital Lottery -2013', from each of 232 widow allowance card holders listed under the branch, when they received the monthly allowance of Tk 300 during the last three days.
"I have no knowledge about the said lottery. The bank cashier gave me a ticket after taking Tk 10 from my widow allowance money. To me, Tk 10 matters as I get only Tk 300 per month,” said Feroza Bewa, 68, widow of late Sorbes Ali of Char Khatamari village in Dharla River basin area under Lalmonirhat Sadar upazila.
Beila Bewa, 67, another widow from the same village, said, "Like this time, the cashier earlier gave us different lottery tickets, taking money from our allowance, when we went to the bank to draw the money.”
Debla Moi Rani, 70, wife of late Kali Charon Barmon of Bosti Khatamari village in Lalmonirhat Sadar upazila, also made a similar allegation.
It is a sheer malpractice that a bank employee would have lottery tickets bought by the receivers of widow allowance, which is only Tk 300 a month, said Ashraful Islam, a staff of Lalmonirhat Sadar upazila social welfare office.
Bank cashier Shah Alam said, "I gave got 700 lottery tickets for sale from the head office of the bank. I am selling these tickets to the bank clients but I did not force anyone to purchase them."
He, however, said it was a 'mistake' on his part to sell lottery tickets to the widow allowance receivers and he is sorry for the matter.