Irregularities have been found in the rice procurement programs by the government in the district’s Nabiganj Upazila. The officials at the Department of Food and Agricultural Office are causing disruption in the procurement program by pinning the blame on each other.
Morever, genuine farmers and sharecroppers are being left out of the government lists in whereas many non-farmers, influentials and political people are on the lists. Many members of the Chairman’s family are in the lists instead of real farmers.
Local farmers alleged that a syndicate of officials, rice traders and politicians were controlling the procurement and they were not letting real farmers sell their paddy.
Each maund of rice is being sold in the market for 400 to 500 taka. The synicate is buying the rice paddy from the farmers at that rate but selling it back to the government depots at 500 to 600 taka per maund.
A source from the Nabiganj Food Warehouse Office said that 500 metric ton (MT) rice paddy is set to be collected from Nabiganj Upazila and municipality. So far they have collected 200 MT and have yet to collect the remaining 300 MT rice paddy.
Nabiganj Upazila Executive Officer Touhid Bin Hasan said that any irregularities in the procurement program will be investigated. He also said that the purchase of paddy has been temporarily stopped due to the irregularities found on the farmers’ lists.
