Allegations of irregularities and corruption have emerged in the tender process for purchasing plastic pallets under a government food storage project, with a complaint filed to the food ministry claiming that conditions have been deliberately tailored to favour a select group of organisations.
The complaint, submitted by Fair Trade Corporation to the state minister of the Food Ministry, alleges that tenders are being repeatedly called with the same restrictive conditions due to collusion between corrupt officials and contractors, preventing a competitive bidding environment.
According to the complaint, signed by organisation owner Kazi Alauddin, whenever a limited number of organisations participate in a tender, rules require calling for fresh tenders. However, the same conditions are being retained each time, resulting in only a handful of organisations participating.
“Participating organisations are submitting bids for pallets at prices significantly higher than market rates. This threatens financial losses running into crores of taka for the government,” the complaint states.
The pallets are intended for storing food grains in newly constructed godowns. However, the complaint notes that construction of the godowns will take approximately another two years. “In such a situation, repeatedly calling for tenders in haste is considered unusual,” it adds.
Fair Trade Corporation claims that tender conditions have restricted participation to only ‘manufacturer’ organisations, excluding ‘supplier’ organisations. This violates the Public Procurement Rules (PPR 2025), the complaint argues.
“Even though the same tender has been called three times, no changes have been made to the conditions, further restricting competition.”
The organisation said that if suppliers were allowed to participate alongside manufacturers, more organisations would compete, allowing the purchase of high-quality pallets at competitive prices.
The letter was sent to the state minister on 29 March requesting intervention for proper investigation and action, but no steps have been taken so far.
“If such unwarranted conditions are removed, many organisations will be able to participate. Then no one would have any complaint about whoever gets the work,” Kazi Alauddin said.
Additional Secretary and Project Director Sohelur Rahman Khan rejected the claims, saying, “There is no scope for irregularities or corruption here. When a company fails to meet work conditions or cannot compete with others, they make such allegations. This complaint is completely baseless.”
