Mohammad Ali, the acting food warehouse officer of Ulipur upazila of Kurigram district, has been accused of supplying rotten, smelly rice that was unfit for consumption for distribution to distressed and helpless women. The Union Parishad collected 30 kg sacks of rice from the food warehouse for distribution to distressed women under the Vulnerable Women Benefit (VWB) program. However, the UP members said that the sacks of rice brought from the warehouse have not been distributed yet as they are unfit for consumption. The incident took place in Bajra Union Parishad of the upazila. According to Bajra Union Parishad sources, 30 kg of rice is provided every month as food assistance to extremely poor and indigent women under the Ministry of Women and Child Affairs. Accordingly, 290 beneficiaries of Bajra Union are supposed to receive 60 kg of rice each for the months of July and August. Accordingly, on September 10, 17 tons of 400 kg rice in 580 bags weighing 30 kg each were brought from the Ulipur food warehouse to the Bajra UP warehouse. Bajra UP members Arju Mia, Lutfar Rahman and Enamul Haque complained to this correspondent that VWB rice was brought from the Ulipur government food warehouse for the months of July and August. After bringing the rice to the Parishad warehouse, it was seen that most of the bags were rotten and smelly rice. This rice is not edible for any human being. Denying the supply of low-quality rice, the acting food warehouse officer Mohammad Ali said, there was a positive discussion with the people of the Parishad. Bad rice is not supposed to go. When asked if you saw the rice being supplied from the warehouse, he said, “I saw it, it might be around nineteen or twenty.”
When asked about irregularities and bribery in the procurement of paddy and rice during the Boro season, he denied the allegations. Ulipur Upazila Food Controller Misbahul Hussain admitted to receiving complaints of poor quality rice supply in Bajra Union. He said that the food warehouse officer in charge has been instructed to go to the council and take necessary action after looking into the matter. Ulipur Upazila Executive Officer (UNO) Nayan Kumar Saha said, “The Bajra UP chairman has informed me about the poor quality rice. The Upazila Food Department has been asked to look into the matter and take necessary action.” It is worth noting that the VWB program is a social security program run to improve the socio-economic conditions of distressed and poor women in Bangladesh, which was earlier known as the VGD (Dustha Mahila Unnayan) program.