Make example of these criminals
It is a sad reflection on the society that at a time of such unprecedented national crisis some of us continue to be slaves of our baser instincts. Otherwise how is it possible for a human being to misappropriate rice allocated by the government for the most indigent section of the population all over the country?
This is not just any other disaster. The outlook is bleak, as much as due to the impact on public health as the economic fallout of the pandemic. The lockdown has created some associated problems the most acute of which is the loss of earning for daily wage earners and those that were already dependent on various government relief programmes. The government has taken a timely decision to provide rice at Tk 10 per kg to those who are affected by the lockdown. But that effort is being blunted in some parts of the country.
Admittedly, the quantity made available so far may not be enough but even that small amount cannot get to many of those it is meant for. It is shocking that those who are entrusted with the distribution responsibility have misappropriated a good part of the rice. There are reports also of irregularity in distribution.
There have been 22 incidents of misappropriation of rice in 20 upazilas and as many as 2,832 sacks of rice each containing 50 kg of rice have been recovered in the last fortnight, according to the local administration and police. And only the day before yesterday the Rapid Action Battalion seized all of the 168 sacks of rice, weighing 8,400 kg, meant for open market sales from a house and warehouse of a local Awami League leader in Nandigram upazila of Bogura. Can there be anything more appalling?
Profiteering at the time of a grave national calamity is the worst form of criminal offense. The offenders must be dealt with most severely without any considerationof party affiliation. These incidents also bring to the fore the need for strict monitoring of the distribution of all relief items whether cash or food so that the efforts by the government to mitigate the effects of the crisis are not nullified by such pilferage. Otherwise the needy will suffer.
