Over 2,000 ultra poor deprived of VGF rice

Over two thousand ultra poor people of Debottar union in Atghoria upazila under the district have been deprived of special allocation of VGF rice before the Eid-ul-Fitr due to a dispute between the union parishad (UP) chairman and a few men of ruling Awami League (AL).
Earlier 21.65 tonnes of rice allotted against 2,165 VGF cards for ultra poor people of the union before Eid-ul-Fitre under the government's social safety net support, official sources said.
“Secretary of Atghoria upazila unit of Awami League Shahidul Islam Ratan demanded one thousand cards from the total allotment of 2,165 cards. As I declined, pro-Awami League members of the union parishad did not submit lists of the VGF beneficiaries within August 8, the last date of submission,” said Md Abdul Malek, chairman of Debottar UP.
"Last year I handed over 900 VGF cards to the upazila AL secretary but this year the union committee decided to distribute the VGF rice according to the lists submitted by the members, said Abdul Malek, also vice president of Debottar union unit of BNP.
"Five UP members submitted their lists to me within August 8 while seven other members, who are pro-AL men, did not submit lists within the time. And so, we could not submit the final list within the scheduled time," Malek said.
Refuting the allegation, Atghoria upazila AL secretary Shahidul Islam Ratan said, "The chairman reserved one thousand cards for himself and the members of the union parishad protested it. Therefore, the chairman could not finalise the list within the time."
Md Saiful Haque, member of ward No 7, said, "We protested as the chairman prepared list according to his choice."
Talking with this correspondent, Md Al Amin Sarkar, project implementation officer of the upazila, said, "The chairman could not finalise the list of VGF beneficiaries within the time. This is a special allotment of VGF among the ultra-poor on the occasion of Eid. As the time was over, the allotment lapsed officially.”
Atghoria upazila Nirbahi officer Sayed Robiul Islam said, "An inquiry committee is investigating the matter. After the report we will decide whether the VGF rice will be distributed or returned."
Moyez Uddin, a VGF beneficiary of Aubhirampur village in the upazila, said, "Each card holder is given only 10 kg of rice but this is good support for poor people like us before the Eid. But this time we have been deprived of the facility due to the disputes among leaders."