Boon for traders, bane of the ultra poor

Rice meant for vulnerable group feeding (VGF) was illegally sold out to the local rice traders in Shatagram union of Birganj upazila.

Besides, those who got the VGF rice had to pay Tk 20 to Tk 50 for 20 kg of rice, said local people.

This incident took place at Shatagram Union Parishad (UP) complex from dawn to dusk on Tuesday.

Locals said Shatragram UP prepared a list of 1810 vulnerable poor people for distributing the VGF rice. The UP authorities drew 36.20 tonnes of rice for the poor.

It's a special programme of the government to distribute rice among the poor before Eid festival free of cost.

At least 1,810 poor people gathered at Shatagram UP complex with the token slips that they got from the UP chairman and members. But, half of the people got rice paying Tk 20 to Tk 50 while the rest returned home at the end of the day with empty hands.

Aleya Begum of Kashimpur village alleged that she went to the UP complex on Tuesday morning to get the rice. But, she returned home in the evening without any rice.

She alleged that the rice meant for the poor was sold to the rice traders before her eyes.

Like Aleya, a number of people faced the same experience at the UP complex. They saw labourers taking out the rice bags from the UP complex and loading those on hired rickshaw vans.

Locals alleged that the rice was sold to rice traders of different markets in the union.

Shahin Hawladar, tag officer  of the UP, who was present during distribution, refuted the allegation of any misuse of the VGF rice.

He said the money was realised from the beneficiaries for adjusting the rice bag price.

UP Chairman Kutub Uddin declined to make any comment over the allegation.