Irregularities alleged against Tanore Bandhai UP chairman, locals demand his removal
Sohanul Haque Parvez, Tanore (Rajshahi)
Various allegations of irregularities, corruption and nepotism have been made against Ataur Rahman, the chairman of the Badhair Union Parishad of Tanore Upazila of Rajshahi. Locals claim that due to these, he has become isolated from the people and the desired development of the union has been hindered.
Local sources have revealed that the chairman is accused of irregularities and commission trading in various development projects including deep tubewell operator recruitment, Khas land trading, Dasco pond excavation, EGP TR Kabikha Kabita maternity allowance and primary school repairs. There have also been allegations of irregularities in the distribution of government assistance during the Corona period.
Locals have claimed that the real picture will come out if the quantity and quality of development work against the allocation is investigated on the spot. There are allegations that the common people do not get the chairman when needed because he is not present regularly in the union council.
According to locals, a huge amount of money has been embezzled through recruitment trade in various educational institutions. There are allegations of influencing the recruitment of multiple positions in Bahrail School, Narayanpur School, Fajr Ali Molla College, Mundumala Women's College, Baidyapur Madrasa and Hapaniya Madrasa. Multiple sources alleged that nearly crores of taka have been transacted through these recruitment trades.
There are also allegations of misappropriation of Tk 2 lakh from the MP's special allocation to Bahrail School without working on it. There have been allegations of taking about 40 percent commission from the Tk 3 lakh allocated to Narayanpur School under the TR project. Although a large amount of special allocation was received in the union last fiscal year, the locals have raised questions about its transparent use.
There are also allegations that healthy people have been given multiple allowance cards pretending to be disabled, against which five to ten thousand taka have been charged on each card. There are also allegations of irregularities in the distribution of government food assistance.
In this situation, ordinary citizens of the union have demanded the removal of the chairman. They allege that he has embezzled money from various sectors by using influence, but he is still serving his duties. The locals have demanded exemplary punishment against him.
However, denying these allegations, Badhai Union Awami League President and Chairman Ataur Rahman said that political opponents are spreading propaganda against him. He claimed that these allegations have no basis and development work is being implemented properly.
