The food ministry has carried out drives against paddy and rice hoarding across the country. More than 100 businesses were fined a total of Tk 5 lakh 8 thousand for illegally stockpiling paddy and rice.

The information came from food ministry sources on Wednesday (24 January).

As part of the regular drives, several offices conducted a joint drive in Kushtia district of Khulna division on Wednesday. Two rice mills were fined Tk 25,000 for not having a price list. In Jashore, drives were run at 41 businesses in the district Sadar and Monirampur upazilas, and six of them were fined Tk 27,000 for not having licences.

The same day in Brahmanbaria, in Chattogram division, three paddy and rice traders were fined Tk 17,250, paid by challan, over wholesale food grain licences.

In Sylhet division, seven drives were conducted in the district Sadar, and fines of Tk 50,000 were imposed for trading without a licence and illegal stockpiling.

In Rajshahi district, 17 businesses were inspected and fined Tk 2 lakh 53 thousand for various irregularities. In Naogaon district of the same division, 11 businesses were fined Tk 51,000 for not having food grain licences. In Bogura district, fines totalling Tk 25,000 were imposed across 12 upazilas for selling rice above the fixed price and using plastic sacks.

In Rangpur division, drives were carried out at 21 rice mills and 30 wholesale depots and markets in Dinajpur district. In Hakimpur upazila, a mobile court fined a trader Tk 20,000 for running a wholesale business without a licence.

In Netrokona district of Mymensingh, 47 drives were conducted in various upazilas, and fines totalling Tk 14,000 were imposed for trading without a food licence. In Sherpur district, 25 drives were carried out in different upazilas, and Tk 20,000 in fines was collected for trading without a price list or food licence.

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