Due to irregularities and corruption of food officers in the eight districts of Rangpur division farmers are unable to sell their produce to the government warehouses.
Most farmers complained that food officials were filling warehouses after buying paddy from ruling party leaders and brokers.
Recently, thousands of farmers from Lalmonirhat formed a human chain in Mission More Chattar of the district to take the issue with the authority’s failure to buy their produce for government warehouses.
Rangpur divisional officer of the food department Md Abdus Salam said, ‘There are some irregularities but after joining the post I am trying to address all the problems.’
The official said that the target of procuring 1.28 lakh tonnes of rice had been set in 8 districts of Rangpur division. Till Sunday, 1.34 lakh tonnes of paddy had been collected. Each farmer, whose name was drawn in a lottery, would get a chance to sell one tonne of paddy to the government at the rate of Tk 26 per kg.
But the growers alleged that they could not sell their paddy without bribes to warehouse officers.
The government started buying paddy from the farmers on December 15 last year, which would continue till mid-March.
A total of 9,733 farmers, who were picked through the lottery, would sell their paddy to all the seven government food warehouses in the division.
But the farmers were being harassed in various ways when they denied to pay Tk 500 to Tk 1,000 to warehouse labourers and officers, alleged local growers. They also added that farmers who came to sell their paddy in warehouses of Aditmari and other upazilas were the worst sufferers.
Robiul Islam, a farmer of Borobari village in sadar upazila, said, ‘On the first day, the officer of Puranbazar Kalibari food warehouse returned my paddy citing moisture problem as I refused to pay bribe. But two days after the incident, I could sell the same paddy when I paid the bribe.’
Another agricultural card holder Liakat Rahman of Kamlabari village in the Aditmari upazila said that they were facing various problems when they set out to sell their paddy to the government food warehouses.
‘When we protest at the corruption, we are harassed in various ways,’ said Liakat.
Shah Ali, a farmer of village Gobdha in Aditmari upazila, said, ‘I was very disappointed when the food officer of the warehouse in the upazila returned my paddy due to moisture problem. It happened as I refused to pay the bribe. I don’t want to face such hassle again. So, I sold my lottery coupon to a local broker at Tk 2,500.’
Shahinur Rahman, food officer of Puranbazar Kalibari warehouse, declined to make any comment over the issue.
District food controller Kazi Saifuddin said, ‘The government pays wages to warehouse workers through labour handling contractors. We gave clear instructions to warehouse staff that no farmer would be harassed when selling their paddy.’
If any farmer was harassed, strict action would be taken in this regard after investigation, he added.
Rangpur divisional commissioner told New Age that if proof of any government warehouse staff’s involvement in irregularities was found, legal action would be taken after investigation.
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