Farmers must pay a bribe even to sell paddy at the government-fixed price; without it, their paddy is not taken into the godown. That is the picture in Astagram upazila of Kishoreganj, a haor district. Jago News has obtained video evidence of the corruption.

A video from a room inside the government food godown in Astagram upazila shows food inspector Jaynal Abedin Bhuiyan directly demanding Tk 2,000 per tonne of paddy from a farmer.

Under the government rate, a maund of paddy costs Tk 1,440, and a farmer can supply up to three tonnes. At the government price, farmers get on average Tk 6,000 more per tonne than the market rate, and the inspector is demanding a third of that.

It is not only bribes: the weighing is also rigged. Instead of 40 kg a maund, 42 kg is being weighed, so the official takes another Tk 900 per tonne of paddy. He first admitted the video was of him but later claimed it had been edited.

The situation at the upazila office is worse still. Guard Shah Alam works at the office in a lungi and takes Tk 270 per tonne for preparing papers. When asked about it, he charged at the journalist, hurled abuse and at one point threw away the journalist's mobile phone.

This haor region stays under water for six months, so the Boro harvest is people's food for the whole year. Yet they struggle every time to get a fair price, and even to sell to the government, their last hope, they must pay extra bribes.

Farmers say genuine farmers cannot supply paddy, and many people whose names are on the list do not even know that paddy has been supplied in their names.

The Astagram godown's target this season is 1,795 tonnes, and 98 per cent has already been procured. By average calculation, the bribes collected from farmers amount to nearly half a crore taka, with about another Tk 10 lakh going into the guard's pocket. Senior officials have promised an investigation, and farmers are waiting for the outcome.

Farmer Majharul Islam said: "This was the first time I took paddy to the government godown. But they did not accept my paddy, with moisture above 14 per cent, while they kept the same kind of paddy from the man next to me. The godown official asked me for a bribe of Tk 3,000. Because I did not pay, they did not take the paddy. That official has been taking bribes since the Awami League era, and this year too he has made a lot of money through corruption. I want a fair investigation and justice. This is my appeal to the government."

Farmer Shamsul Haque said: "When we take paddy to the government godown, they say it is wet. Then they demand Tk 2,000 per tonne. If you pay, the same paddy becomes 'fine'! On top of that, we have to pay transport to get the paddy to the godown. With all the costs together, selling at the market rate seems better, so I do not take my paddy there."

Farmer Yasin Mia said that when he takes paddy, officials say it has not been dried properly, yet they accept paddy drier than his. "Later I heard that for those who pay, all the paddy becomes fine. How is that possible? This is plain corruption."

Farmer Zakir Hossain said: "I have never been able to give my own paddy to the government godown. Yet someone else supplied paddy using a card in my name. This year the government is buying paddy at Tk 1,440 a maund, but still I could not sell. Later I learned that a slip had been issued in my name. I do not know who did it. I want a proper investigation and punishment for those involved. There is no account of how much corruption the godown official has committed."

Asked about the matter, the accused inspector Jaynal Abedin Bhuiyan denied the allegations. "I did not ask for any bribe. The video has been presented in a misleading way. I never had such a conversation with anyone," he said. When asked for the list of those who had sold paddy to the government godown, he refused to provide it.

Mst Dilshad Jahan, upazila nirbahi officer (UNO) and president of the Astagram upazila food grain procurement committee, said: "We will investigate these matters. I will speak to the official myself. If we find the allegations true, action will be taken."

Kishoreganj district food controller Alamgir Kabir said they would look into what had happened to the farmers and take the necessary action.

Local civil society and farmers have demanded a fair investigation and exemplary punishment for those responsible. Such incidents, they say, are causing frustration among farmers and eroding trust in the government's food procurement programme.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.