Poor’s card for the rich!

Afiton Bewa, a 48-year-old woman, lives with her ailing husband in a broken hut on other's land in Chandkhana union of Kishoreganj upazila.

She somehow maintains her family as a part-time day labourer or domestic help but when there is no work the landless woman remains unfed.    

“At the beginning of the year, I went to the local union parishad (UP) chairman to get a vulnerable group development (VGD) card meant for the poor so that I can get monthly government support but I was told that there is no card for me,” said Afiton.

However, Roksana Akhtar, 30, daughter of late wealthy farmer Abdul Khaleque of the union, living in a brick house and owning property, has got a VGD card as she is niece of UP Chairman Hafizur Rahman, said locals.

In reply to a query, Roksana said the local UP chairman is her maternal uncle and so it is no wrong if she avails some privileges.

Upazila Nirbahi Officer Mehedi Hasan said the government has initiated VGD programme to support extreme poor women by providing each cardholders 30 kg of rice per month, and 3,447 beneficiaries have been selected in the upazila in two years tenure.

Extreme poor women having no land or home, river erosion victims, those abandoned by husband or having an ailing or physically disabled husband etc are eligible to get VGD card, he said.

Resident of ward No-6 Shawkat Ali and others said VGD card holder Roksana inherited one bigha of land and part of brick built house of her father who died two years ago.

From the land, she gets 40 maunds of Aman and Boro paddy yearly and 50 maunds of potato on average, they said.

Admitting that Roksana is his niece, the UP chairman said, “she deserves to get a VGD card as she is a widow and requested this correspondent not to file report regarding the matter.”

Acting upazila women affair's officer Shapla Begum said first condition to get VGD card is that the selected woman must be extreme poor and doesn't own property.”

“We will investigate whether VGD card holder Roksana owns property and lives in brick build house and if it is true, we'll surely cancel her card,” she said.