Tura, July 14: The headman of the village of Gaonbura, Islam Hoque Choudhury has filed a complaint against the Fair Price Shop (FPS) dealer of the village, Baharul Islam, over allegations of misappropriation of at least two months free rice under NFS that was allegedly not distributed by the dealer.
In a complaint to the SDO of Dadenggre under West Garo Hills (WGH), Islam mentioned that Baharul had not provided rice to NFSA beneficiaries in the months of Feb and June this year despite being allocated the rations.
Islam further sought the cancellation of the FPS license of the dealer as well as an FIR to be filed by the administration following an investigation. Garodubi has a total of 1529 NFSA beneficiaries.
“I am writing this complaint following many petitions being made to be about the misappropriation being done by the FPS dealer. He got this dealership in 2018 after the previous dealership was cancelled following misappropriation. He was not our choice but somehow managed to get the dealership through the office of the SDO,” said Islam in the complaint.
He added that several complaints were made to authorities over the dealership issue, but these have fallen on deaf ears.
“He (Baharul) has withdrawn the entire 2 months allotment amounting to over 149 quintals (Feb and Jun). This has not been disbursed and he has misappropriated the entire allotment. Further he has also been deducting half a kg of rice per person’s allotment claiming that to be for transport expenses, which he has been getting from the government. These are highly criminal acts and against the NFSA norms,” added the Gaonbura.
Islam further claimed that the dealer was also collecting rice in the names of people who were already dead. He has also been allegedly threatening the villagers with cancellation of their ration cards if anyone complained to the authorities.
Further he accused the FPS dealer of shortchanging beneficiaries by providing a lesser quantity of rice than they were due for through a manipulated weighing scale.
“On the above grounds, we seek the cancellation of the dealership of Baharul as well as that he be charged under appropriate sections of the law,” urged Islam.