Two weeks have passed since Prime Minister Tarique Rahman ordered swift distribution of government aid to farmers in haor region who lost their crops.
The aid has not yet reached a single farmer. And as the local administration blames delays on “proper verification,” the lists themselves are already unraveling into a catalog of nepotism, corruption, and outright fraud.
The lists, obtained by TIMES of Bangladesh, read like a directory of the well-connected rather than the devastated.
Among the 1,78,279 names registered across four districts of Sylhet division are relatives of local public representatives, non-agricultural government employees, garment factory workers, and even deceased people.
Those tasked with compiling the lists have apparently treated them as family registries, enrolling multiple members of single households.
The government had promised tiered compensation in ‘A’, ‘B’, and ‘C’ categories based on severity of crop loss. Yet the ‘A’ category, reserved for the worst-hit, is already polluted with names of people who never lost a thing.
The scale of the registration is staggering: 4,745 farmers in Sylhet district, 120,631 in Sunamganj, 27,606 in Habiganj, and 25,297 in Moulvibazar.
But the numbers tell only part of the story. The real scandal is in the details.
Nowhere are the allegations more explosive than in Shalla Upazila of Sunamganj, where Union Parishad members stand accused of turning public relief into private patronage.
Farmers allege that UP members, the very officials responsible for verifying the lists, have packed them with preferred names. Political leaders and activists, they say, have been lobbying and recommending their own.
The list makers offer a defense: they were given only a day or two to prepare the lists, and farmer names leaked through so many channels that chaos was inevitable.
But the evidence on the ground tells a different story.
Debabrata Sarkar, a member of Ward 2 of Bahara Union Parishad in Shalla Upazila, has managed to get seven members of his own family onto the list. One of them is a teacher at a government primary school. Meanwhile, approximately 30 genuinely affected families from Porarpar village of the same upazila have been left off entirely.
When TIMES tried to reach Debabrata Das for comment, his mobile phone was switched off.
Akhil Chandra Chowdhury, listed 325th on the list for Ward 5, is the uncle of UP member Mihir Chowdhury. He lives in Dhaka. He owns no land in the haor region.
Jipesh Sutradhar, listed 116th on the list, also lives in Dhaka. He has never cultivated any land in the haor. His brother also appears 107th on the list.
Number 288 on the list is Manmohan Chowdhury. He is the father of the UP member and has been staying at his daughter’s house in Dhaka for the past five months.
And then there is UP member Mihir Chowdhury himself. He cultivated 5 keyar (bighas) of land in the haor and harvested all of it before the rains came. His crops were untouched. Yet there he appears, 286th on the list of those affected.
A local farmer, speaking on condition of anonymity, described his own exclusion despite cultivating 20 keyars of land, of which 8 keyars were harvested before the floods destroyed the rest. “Despite all this damage, I was not included in the list,” he said.
When confronted, Mihir Chowdhury offered this explanation: “Others have made my list. The names of some deceased persons may appear in the list. The union council has discussed to exclude them.”
Shalla Upazila Nirbahi Officer Pias Chandra Das responded cautiously: “If the names of deceased persons or ineligible persons are found in the list, necessary action will be taken after investigation.”
In Dirai Upazila, the list has been prepared but not yet published. Yet even Tarl Union Chairman Ali Ahmed concedes the inevitable. “Only one day has been given for the list,” he admitted. “Moreover, the names of farmers have been taken from different media. Due to which the names of more than one person from the same family may appear.”
Upazila Nirbahi Officer Sanjib Sarkar announced that a 5-member committee has been formed in each union with the chairman as convener. “If there is anyone ineligible in the list, it will be re-verified and selected,” he said.
Additional Deputy Commissioner (General) Matiur Rahman Khan echoed the promise: “If the name of any non-farmer is found in the verification and selection, it will be excluded subject to investigation.”
Additional Director of the Department of Agricultural Extension, Sylhet Region, Md. Mosharraf Hossain, shifted responsibility downward: “If someone has given the names of ineligible people through irregularities, it should be verified and selected at the upazila level. But even if that has not been done, it is up to the concerned.”
While officials debate verification committees, the affected farmers of Kishoreganj are running out of time. Eid is days away.
Sumitra Das, a farmer from Kalma village of Ashtagram upazila, recalled the hollow promise: “The UP member of the area wrote the name down and said that the government will help us. I thought I would get the help very soon. But I don’t even know when I will get it.”
Hafizul Islam of Khairpur-Abdullahpur union is counting down to Eid with dread. “There are only a few days left for Eid. It would have been better if I had received the government help before Eid. I would have spent Eid well with my wife and children.”
Monir Mia of Shantipur village in Dhaki union, Mithamoin upazila, described a season of compounded catastrophe: “I was cultivating three acres of land. At first, hailstorm damaged it. Later, the little that was good went into the water. I was bringing some kind of rice, but the rice was also spoiled. I don’t know how I will survive the whole year. It would have been better if I had received the government help before Eid.”
The District Department of Agricultural Extension reports that 13,500 hectares of boro crops have been submerged. The financial loss stands at approximately Tk 260 crore. The number of affected farmers has exceeded 53,000.
Deputy Director of the District Department of Agricultural Extension Md Sadiqur Rahman offered a timeline: “Government assistance will be distributed to the affected farmers within this month.”
In Netrokona, the gap between reality and the registry is a chasm.
Deputy Director of the Department of Agricultural Extension Aminul Islam states that 77,363 farmers have been affected. Paddy on 16,877.65 hectares of land has been completely destroyed, with a financial loss of Tk 372 crore and 15 lakh.
Yet District Relief and Rehabilitation Officer Md Ruhul Amin puts the number of listed names at just 57,413, a shortfall of nearly 20,000 farmers. Of those listed, 19,169 are in category ‘A’, 27,983 in category ‘B’, and 10,261 are partially affected.
Manik Talukder, a farmer from Mallikpur Bhatia village in Mohanganj upazila, has already been forced to sell some of his cows due to acute crisis of straw and hey that followed the flooding.
Shafiqul Islam did the same. “He is worried about providing his own food.”
The destruction of straw has triggered a secondary crisis. Due to the cow fodder shortage, prices and demand for straw in haor areas have surged.
Md Dilal Mia, a Mohanganj farm owner, now spends TK 1,600 on straw from each katha of land, up from Tk 500-600 before the disaster.
District Livestock Officer Mohammad Shahidul Islam reports that 3,305 tonnes of straw and 103 tonnes of grass have been destroyed. “Steps are being taken to distribute animal feed among marginal farmers and ranchers through the Ministry of Disaster and Relief,” he said.
Rakibul Hasan Rokel from Kishoreganj and Bhajan Das from Netrokona also contributed to the report.
