Goats handed out under a government project to help poor families in Dewanganj, Jamalpur, have mostly died within a month. Of the 240 goats given out in the final round, 172 are dead, leaving recipients worse off than before.
According to the Department of Livestock Services, 1,530 Black Bengal goats were distributed to 770 beneficiaries in Dewanganj in five rounds under the integrated livestock development project for 86 deprived border areas and river chars of the north. In the final round, on 3 and 15 July, 120 families received 240 goats.
Recipients say the project rules called for each goat to weigh eight kilograms, but most animals in the last batch were thin, weak and weighed three to four kilograms. Ajiron Begum said that within a week of bringing home her two kids, an infection killed them and the eight goats she already had; one kid survives. Tara Mia said officials did not come when told, and that recipients paid Tk 3,000 for a vet themselves but could not save the animals.
Upazila livestock officer Mizanur Rahman said the goats were healthy and weighed at distribution. After complaints of deaths he spoke to the project director and sent samples to Dhaka to establish the cause, he said, denying that officers had not visited, and a list of the dead goats has been made. The project director, Dr Nanda Gopal, could not be reached.
Dewanganj upazila nirbahi officer Shah Zahurul Hossain said a list of affected families has been sent to the ministry for compensation and he hopes they will be given goats again.
The report is by a Banglanews24 district correspondent.
Photo: Black Bengal goats (file), Ragib Hasan / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Source: Banglanews24
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