Last year, according to official documents, the food office at Savar upazila procured 857 tonnes of Boro rice from 291 farmers. Investigation carried out by a newsman of a national daily, reportedly, failed to locate 110 of those farmers. The local food officials, allegedly, put fictitious names on the list of farmers for their own pecuniary benefit.
The food department might try to portray the Savar incident as an isolated incident. But the fact is most likely to be otherwise.
The popular perception about the government food procurement programme has never been in favour of the food department. Allegations have it that the launching of the procurement drive is deliberately delayed so that genuine farmers cannot avail of the benefits of the programme. The field-level food officials and a section of local influential people form an unholy alliance to reap most of the benefit of the public food procurement programme.
What has been unearthed through Savar food procurement swindle is the real picture of the food procurement drive of the government across the country.
Actually, the real farmers are not aware of the procurement drive as they are deliberately kept in darkness about it. Food officials and a section of dishonest people prepare fake lists of farmers, open fake bank accounts and show procurement of food grains against those names.
There was a time when the prices offered by the government to procure rice from farmers were not at all attractive. But the situation has changed now. The government-fixed procurement prices are very much reasonable. This has rather heightened the propensity among a section of food officials to indulge in evil practices.
It is not just procurement of rice against the names of fake farmers. There are far more serious allegations against the unscrupulous section of food officials. It is alleged that in some cases foods purchased under the procurement drives do never reach the government silos. In some other cases, rotten and inferior quality rice is procured at throwaway prices to embezzle the funds meant for food procurement. There could be many more cunning ways to misappropriate the rice procurement funds.
It is most unlikely that the directorate of food is unaware of what is happening at the ground level. But for reasons best known to it, the top food officials very rarely initiate any action against dishonest officials involved in rice procurement.
The food procurement drive is meant to ensure fair prices for genuine farmers who, in most cases, are forced to sell their produce at prices below their cost of production. But instead of helping the poor and marginal farmers, a section of dishonest food officials and local influential people reap most of it.
The food department is one of the government agencies rightly thought to be extensively graft-ridden. However, the stigma is very old and it had started during the British colonial rule. It seems, none is interested to erase the black spot and build a clean image for the food department.
- Saturday, 23 November 2024 |
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