A cattle market has been set up for Eid-ul-Azha without permission on the ground of Panchapukur School and College in Nilphamari Sadar upazila. The lessee claims the district administration gave permission, but the deputy commissioner says he gave none.

The lessee held the market on the college ground from 11am to 8pm on Monday (26 June). Two other markets had been held there earlier while the college was open.

Local people allege that the market was set up illegally because the principal and committee members profit financially. The posts used to tie cattle have left the playing field pitted with holes and the grass has died. Students and guardians are demanding that the market be moved away from the institution, to protect the ground and the learning environment.

Mostakim Billa, a class nine student, said the market had been held even while classes were running. "The next day at school we get dung on our feet, and then there's the smell. The market isn't held at Kochukata school next door, so why at ours?"

Farhad Hossain, a guardian from the Bangabandhur Mor area, said the principal had given permission by using his influence. "The ground will be ruined. What grass there is will die."

Another guardian, who did not want to be named, claimed that principal Jewel had taken money to hold the cattle market and that some committee members were also involved. "They are harming students out of greed for money."

Asked about the market, Jewel, principal of Panchapukur School and College, told Jago News: "No permission is needed. I hold the cattle market in the public interest. I haven't taken any money. Whatever you can do, do it; go and do whatever you can."

Nur Islam, an assistant to the market lessee, said: "We set up the market with the permission of the DC, the SP and the UNO. We have held a market here for 50 years. No separate permission is needed."

Market lessee Md Raju told Jago News he had permission from the DC, the UNO and the OC and had the papers. But when asked to show them, he evaded the request.

District Education Officer Hafizur Rahman told Jago News that when an institution is closed, a market can be held in the public interest with the deputy commissioner's permission, but not without permission.

Sadar Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Jesmin Nahar told Jago News: "We did not give permission to hold a market at an educational institution, nor did we give anyone any paper about it. If the market has been set up illegally, we will shut it down."

Deputy Commissioner Pankaj Ghosh told Jago News: "I don't know about a cattle market on the college ground. I gave no permission. I have told the UNO to take action."

Earlier, on 21 June, a cattle market had been held illegally on the ground of Moshiur Rahman Degree College in Sadar upazila while the college was open.

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