Irregularities have been alleged in the distribution of rice allotted to fishers in Faridpur. Although 160 kg of rice was allotted per person, only 60 kg has been handed out. The fisheries officer says this is not an irregularity but the result of a smaller allocation.

A ban on catching, transporting and marketing jatka (juvenile hilsa) is in force for eight months, from 1 November to 30 June. For four of those months, February to May, the government has allotted 160 kg of VGF rice to each card-holding fisher family. But widespread irregularities are alleged in the distribution: card holders have been given only 60 kg each, and in some places the sacks were underweight.

Allocations have come in the names of 270 card-holding fishers in North Channel union of Sadar upazila, 130 in Char Madhabdia, 113 in Decreerchar, 86 in Aliabad and 100 in Faridpur municipality. The rice is supposed to be distributed at the union parishads in the presence of a representative of the upazila fisheries officer and the chairman.

Rice was distributed to fishers at Char Madhabdia union parishad on the afternoon of Sunday, 8 March, but no representative of the upazila fisheries officer was present.

Old card holders were being given 60 kg in two 30 kg sacks and new card holders one sack each, most of the sacks torn. With journalists present, the union parishad chairman hurriedly handed two sacks each to some of the new card holders.

Several card-holding fishers, who did not want to be named, said: "We ourselves don't know how many kilos we are supposed to get. We are given 60 kg, and sometimes less. We have heard it should be 160 kg, but that is not being given."

"There is no one to hear our complaints. And who would we complain to? Then our cards would be cancelled and we would get no rice at all. So we take what they give and go home. Catching jatka is banned for eight months, but rice is given for four. We should get 160 kg but are given less than 60 kg," they said.

According to the Sadar upazila fisheries office, Faridpur Sadar's four unions and municipality have 1,400 card-holding fishers. Rice has been allotted for 653 of them, a total of 104.48 tonnes. Because 60 kg each was distributed, a discrepancy of 65.3 tonnes has been found in the rice accounts.

Asked about this, Md Tuhinur Rahman Mondal Khokon, chairman of Char Madhabdia union parishad, said less rice had been allotted than the number of card-holding fishers, so the rice was being shared among all of them, with 60 kg given for now instead of 160 kg. He said the decision was taken with the fisheries officer's permission.

Asked whether it was right to give only 60 kg instead of 160 kg, he said it was being done after talking with everyone, and the weight was correct.

Mst Shirin Sharmin Khan, senior fisheries officer of Faridpur Sadar upazila, said Sadar has 1,400 card-holding fishers and rice was allotted for 653 of them, but the chairmen are distributing it among everyone on humanitarian grounds, considering all of them. She said the chairmen could answer on any irregularity or short weight in the distribution.

She added: "We have no power over giving out the rice. The DO letter comes to the UNO's office, and from there it is handed over to the chairmen according to the instructions. The higher authorities have been told about the rice allocation several times. We have been told to distribute whatever allocation is received."

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