SEVEN lakhs fake special OMS cards were distributed out of 50 lakhs as Covid-19 food aid to the poor and marginalized families in March last year as the pandemic hit hard and the poor were unable to buy food losing jobs and any source of earning through nationwide shutdown. Low income people and daily wage earners were the worst hit by the shutdown but local leaders used the occasion to steal low cost rice meant for the poor.
The disclosure came at the parliamentary standing committee meeting on the ministry of food on September 24 last. It showed the falsification of the cards mainly took place by issuing multiple cards against the name of an individual beneficiary. Local party leaders and food officials used the ghost cards to get more food allocation and remove big part of it to black market to earn illegal cash.
Report said the special open market sale (OMS) of rice was introduced to supply rice to the poor at Tk 10 per kg which sells at Tk 30 per kg in open market place. A person was entitled to buy five kg of rice in a week but it was immediately stopped in April for various irregularities involving local party leaders and food officials. It was indeed a chaotic situation.
We know that food distribution and relief work are few areas which need involvement of the leaders of the local bodies and food officials. Media outlets were flooded with stories of embezzlement of huge quantity of rice and cash in different parts of the country on that occasion. Some people were also arrested and stolen rice sacks were recovered from market places or homes of local leaders and trader. These were indeed the stocks which were supplied against fake OMS cards. Poor were also cheated with poor quality rice and less quantity.
We are always opposed to a system built on a pyramid of corruption of a government elected in voterless elections that lacks accountability of any ort to the people. The rich become richer in our system and the poor pays for the rich. The corrupt hands of the government is everywhere to support launderers and plunderers. It is indeed a bad time and we don’t see any respite until the system collapses.
