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  Food officials blamed for bribery

Staff Reporter:

Anger has spread out among rice traders and mill owners as the District Food Controller of Sirajganj in collaboration with the Raiganj Upazila Food Officer has reportedly initiated to enlist a controversial auto-rice mill as a rice supplier in the government warehouse in exchange for a large sum of bribe under the pretext of pendency of a case at High Court.

Despite several allegations and violation of terms and conditions, the concerned officials of the food department have moved to enlist the name of the rice mill as supplier that fears to lead furious clashes or untoward incidents anytime in future.

To avoid controversy and potential chaos, dignitaries in the area have urged the authorities concerned to reconsider the decision further.

If the transparency is not ensured, food procurement process in the upazila may be hampered this year, they opined.

Local agitating people have also threatened to go for tougher movements including holding human chain and rally demanding to removal of the corrupt officials in the relevant food offices, if they do not take necessary steps to exclude the name of the controversial mills including ‘Riya Auto Rice Mill’ in Chandaikona of the Raiganj upazila.

As per the rules, no rice mill can participate in the government procurement process without a valid and timely renewed license. But recently, it has been reported that some mill owners with expired, unpaid and partial documents are trying to get allocation after lobbying and managing the concerned officers.

Local businessmen said that, mills whose licenses have been renewed in accordance with the rules are in danger of being deprived of allocation. They alleged that, some influential people are trying to get government allocation by exerting influence without updating the license, which is against fair competition and legal process.

Seeking anonymity, some mill owners in Raiganj upazila said, “We renew the license every year in accordance with the rules. Now if illegal or expired license holders also get allocation, then there is no value in following the law. In this context, investment and hard work are all at risk.”

They also alleged that, several other rice mills including the illegal Riya Auto-Rice Mill which has been criticized for destroying the environment and cropland in Chandaikona for a long time are actively trying to take allocation for supplying paddy and rice involving crores of taka to the government warehouse in Raiganj.

Local conscious circles claimed that, some individuals in Raiganj have been embezzling crores of taka from government allocations for a long time by creating multiple fake licenses in the name of one person. This incident has spread widespread anger in the area as the concerned officials are involved with the irregularities and providing supports to them in exchange of illegal privileges.

“Such fraud is not only a violation of the law, but also a big threat to the market, farmers and the government food supply system,” said conscious people of the area.

They also believe that, if transparency and rigor are not maintained in the allocation process, honest traders will be harmed, instability may arise in the market, irregularities in the government food procurement system will increase and farmers will be prevented from getting fair prices.

It is to be mentioned that, Riya Auto Rice Mill in Chandaikona of Raiganj upazila of Sirajganj district was fined several times for violating environmental conditions imposed by the Department of Environment (DoE).

Not only that, the mill has failed to fulfill the conditions required by the DoE even after passing stipulated period. It has already lost its environmental license validity and is yet to get renewal.

In this circumstance, Harun-or-Rashid, District Controller of Food, Sirajganj in collaboration with Raiganj upazila food officer Sirajul Islam Sarker has initiated to enlist the mill’s name as a supplier for the government godown. As a result, agitation has created among the genuine and honest rice traders and millers in the upazila. They urged the higher authorities to exclude the name of unauthorized rice mills including Riya Auto Rice Mill from the list and ensure transparency in the government procurement process.

When this correspondent went to take a comment in this regard, Sirajul Islam Sarker, Upazila Food Officer in Raiganj managed to flee the office after hearing the news of journalists’ presence at the office premises. He also did not respond even after making several calls to him over cell phone at that time.

On the other hand, while contacted, District Food Controller Harun-ur-Rashid had presented various arguments in favor of Riya Auto Rice Mill, citing the ongoing case in the High Court.

He also termed the violation is a matter of Environment Department and said, “I am not bound to see the lacking of update environmental certificate, if the mill is on operation along with active electricity line.”