Evidence of a section of ruling party leaders’ and activists' involvement in misappropriation of rice meant for distribution to the poor across the country has raised concerns among different quarters.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina earlier warned that no corruption and irregularity would be tolerated in the process of supporting the poor to help them survive through the ongoing coronavirus crisis in the country.
"No one indulging in corruption and irregularities will be spared. We won't tolerate people taking advantage of this difficult time to get rich. I am warning you in advance," the premier said.
However, a quarter of people linked to the ruling party, including influential ones, political activists, local representatives and petty thieves, continue to ignore the directive and are getting involved in misappropriation of rice, according to reports sent by our district correspondents.
In the last few days, dozens of reports on the misappropriation of rice under the Vulnerable Group feeding (VGF) programme, Open Market Sales (OMS) and other relief programs have been filed by Dhaka Tribune correspondents from around the country.
In Nilphamari, almost a thousand working class people protested on the streets, disregarding the government directives on social distancing to slow the rate of the contamination of the deadly SARS-coV virus.
The desperate people staged a blockade on the Syedpur-Nilphamari road for an hour on Tuesday to press home their demands for relief and monetary help to secure their daily meals, which most of them are deprived of.
In Uttara Residential area, over 1,200 day labourers have been residing for two decades. Among them, nearly 250 families received some monetary help from the municipality Mayor Amjad Hossain. However, most of them are still suffering from an acute scarcity of goods and food.
“There are enough rations in our storages and we will distribute them soon enough,” said Upazila Nirbahi Officer Nasim Ahmed.
However, why the government-initiated goods were not distributed earlier remains a question.
When asked, Deputy Commissioner (DC) Hafizur Rahman said he deeply regretted the protest as it would accelerate the possibility of a contracting of the virus by people. He told Dhaka Tribune that the UNO had been directed to act on the issue.
Meanwhile, in Natore, the district administration has recovered 1440 sacks of government rice, which were being stored by a local Awami League (AL) representative and a local vendor in Singra.
The two men are Auwal Hossain Swapan, science and technology-related general secretary of Sukash Union AL, and Rahmat Ali, 62. Both of them are rice vendors.
A mobile court led by Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Nasrin Banu made a drive in the area on a tip-off on Wednesrday and upon finding the government goods sentenced them to one month in jail.
In Sirajganj, police detained three people over misappropriation of government rice meant to be sold for Tk10 per kg to underprivileged people.
The arrestees, Md Mozaffar Hossain, Shafikul Islam and Shahidul Islam were trying to hoard 65 sacks of government relief rice, police said.
In Tangail, a mobile court detained a three-wheeler driver from Ghatail upazila with 390 kgs of Open Market Sales (OMS) rice on Wednesrday.
The accused, Abu Taher, 35, was sentenced to 10 days in prison and an investigation to catch the main culprits behind the move to steal the rice was going on, said UNO Anjan Kumar Sarker.
In Bogra, a mobile court has detained and fined a local AL leader for misappropriation of 3 tonnes of the government’s OMS rice.
The accused, Wazed Hossain, president of Mahishaban Union AL unit and a dealer with the Ministry of Food, made false documents to cover up his crime. Upon receiving information from a Jubo League leader, UNO Rownak Jahan made a drive to the godown and fined him Tk10,000.
“A three-member probe committee has been formed to investigate the incident,” said the UNO.
However, the accused denied all accusations and blamed his rivals for framing him in the scandal.
Meanwhile, in Sariakandi upazila of the district, another AL leader has been detained by a mobile court for stealing 288 sacks of OMS rice.
“We cancelled the dealership of the accused, Gaziul Haque, president of Kutubpur AL unit, but the rice could not be recovered yet,” said UNO Rasel Miah.
On Monday, the district administration of Jhalakati recovered over 2.5 tonnes of rice provided by the government for distribution among the poor and underprivileged, which had been illegally stored at the house of Monir Hossain, union parishad member of Agarbari village and general secretary of Basanda union Awami League unit.
On the same day, police in Patuakhali arrested Komlapur Union Parishad Chairman Md Monir Rahman Mridha for illegally storing 350kgs of OMS rice.
On April 5, police in Joypurhat arrested two people for smuggling 102 government donated sacks of rice from Raikali village of Akkelpur upazila.
On April 4, police seized 18 sacks of government rice from a store belonging to ruling party activist Tariqul Islam Tareque, who is the brother of Southkhali union Awami League General Secretary Hasanuzzaman Parvez, from Tafalbari Bazar of Sarankhola in Bagerhat.
On the same day, police arrested a ruling party activist Abdullah-Al-Mamun, owner of Bhai Bhai Rice Mills at Manirampur upazila town in Jessore, and seized 555 sacks of government rice from his mill.
On April 2, Raninagar upazila administration under Naogaon district seized 138 sacks of relief rice from the home of Ayat Ali, a member of the Advisory Council of Kaligram Union unit Awami League.
On April 1, Awami League General Secretary Mujibor Sana of ward 7 of Bardal union under Ashashuni upazila of Satkhira was arrested after 42 sacks of rice were seized from his possession.
Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) on Wednesday called for strict and unbiased enforcement of the prime minister's pledge that no irregularity would be tolerated in the government’s response to the crisis related to Covid-19.
In a statement sent to the media, it said there was no alternative to ensuring the highest level of transparency and effective corruption control as a prerequisite to a successful response to such a major crisis.
“In this extraordinary situation, although public procurement may genuinely need to be fast-tracked, all measures must be taken to ensure accountability,” a statement signed by TIB Executive Director Dr Iftekharuzzaman said.
Our correspondents Taiyeb Ali Sarker, Nilphamari; Kamal Mridha, Natore; Abdullah Al Numan, Tangail; Nazmul Huda Nasim, Bogra; Rajib Basu, Patuakhali; Asaduzzaman Sardar, Satkhira; Tauhid Zaman, Jessore; Abdur Rouf Pavel, Naogaon; SM Samsur Rahman, Bagerhat and Aminul Islam Rana, Sirajganj contributed to the report.
