Non-government organisations (NGOs) in Kurigram are allegedly forcing local flood victims to repay their loan installments, violating the prime minister’s order barring harassment of the loanees.
The premier, while visiting flood-ravaged Jessore and Kurigram on August 20, had directed the NGOs engaged in providing microcredit not to harass anybody in the name of realising loans from them.
Aktarun, 40, from Badlipur village in the district, said she had built a house spending Tk20,000 that she had taken from an NGO called Society for Social Service (SSS) as loan.
But, the house has been completely damaged in the recent flood with most of the the furniture kept inside it swept away, she said.
“Now, we are living under the open sky during daytime and taking we take shelter in a makeshift hut at night,” Akhtarun added.
Despite the fact, the SSS is forcing her to repay the installments, she claimed.
“I had to lend Tk500 to repay the latest installment to the NGO as I had no other choice,” said Aktarun, who is among hundreds of others who received microcredit from several NGOs.
The loanees are not only grappling with recovering the losses they incurred in the flood, but also left under growing pressure by the NGOs, including Grameen Bank and Asha.
Jahera Begum of Jatrapur union under Sadar upazila said she was given a loan from Asha NGO to arrange medical treatment for her husband.
“He died when the flood situation worsened. We also lost our house. But, the NGO still kept asking me repeatedly to repay the loan,” she said.
The NGO workers have been visiting their clients at night to give them a remainder about their loan installments, the victims said.
When asked, Jatrapur SSS Branch Manager Hasan Ali admitted realising loan installments, but denied forcing anybody in this regard.
He said: “We are rather arranging medical assistance for our clients and giving them Tk1,000 as assistance.”
Panchgachhi Grameen Bank Branch Manager said they were only collecting their loan installments from them who were willingly repaying the money.
About the matter, Kurigram’s Deputy Commissioner (DC) Abu Saleh Md Ferdaus Khan said: “We have already written to all NGOs, asking them to stop realising loan installments until the flood situation improves completely.”
The DC said they take measures in this regard, if the PM’s order is violated.
Around 500,000 people, mostly farmers and day labourers, were affected in nine upazilas of Kurigram, where crops of 50,000 hectares of land and hundreds of houses were damaged in the flood.
Thursday, June 04, 2026
