Around 1,500 marginalized locals besieged a union council office in Syedpur upazila of Nilphamari after they were denied government allocated rice under the VGF (Vulnerable Group Feeding) project on Wednesday.
They alleged that the Kasirambelpukur Union Parishad Chairman Enamul Hoque Chowdhury sold off a large portion of the VGF rice intended for the extremely poor and thus there was no more rice to distribute.
According to the locals, the local administration had been distributing VGF rice among poor people for the past three days on the occasion of Eid-ul-Azha. In continuation, on Wednesday, around 1,500 people who had received slips, queued up in front of the union council office. However, members of the union council told everyone to leave after keeping them waiting for hours, saying there wasn’t any rice.
In this regard, UP Chairman Enamul Haque Chowdhury said: “Around 100-150 people did not get rice today and they will get rice tomorrow.”
Denying the allegation of selling off VGF rice, he said rice has been distributed as per the allotment. “There is no stock of rice for so many people.”
When the chairman was asked why slip holders were not getting rice when the slips were given as per the rice allocation, he claimed to not know how the rice was out of stock.
Syedpur Upazila Nirbahi Officer Nasim Ahmed said “I have asked the tag officer to submit a written report regarding the distribution of VGF rice. If the report is not satisfactory, legal action will be taken against the chairman and tag officer.”
