Allegations have been raised in Kalmakanda that, in the list of government agricultural incentives for those affected by flooding, genuine farmers of ward 9 of Kharnai union were left out while non-farmers and fake individuals were included. In protest, affected farmers held a human chain at Palpara Bazar in the upazila on Saturday. However, denying the allegations, the chairman of that union parishad and his supporters held a counter human chain at the same place.
At the human chain in the Palpara Bazar area of the Kalmakanda-Durgapur road, farmers alleged that crops on hundreds of acres of land in various areas, including Nalgora, Karasabra, Dala Bil and Medha Bil, had been submerged in the recent flooding. But the names of many affected farmers had not been included in the incentive list, they said, while those who own no farmland of their own or are not involved in farming had been kept on the list.
Farmer Kudrat Ali said: ‘Of my 34 katha, the paddy on 29 katha was submerged in the floodwater. Yet my name is not on the incentive list. Those who have never farmed have got cards because of political influence.’ A written complaint on the matter was recently submitted to the upazila nirbahi officer (UNO), he said. Since the complaint was filed, the union parishad chairman, Md Obaydul Haque, and several others had been pressuring and threatening them to withdraw it, he added.
However, the chairman of Kharnai union parishad, Md Obaydul Haque, denied the allegations. He said it was a planned conspiracy to tarnish the government’s image.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report