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Mongain North

Dr Kamal blames govt for inertia

Staff Correspondent
Gono Forum (GF) President Dr Kamal Hossain yesterday blamed the government for not taking nec-cssary measures to save thousands of monga-affected people in the northwestern region of the country, and said many of them are 'dying from starvation'.
"We have visited the area recently and found people starving to death," Dr Kamal said at a press conference at the Jatiya Press Club in the capital.
He demanded the government take immediate steps to save people from such deaths, diseases and destitution there.
Dr Kamal, also chief of the Jatiya Oikya Mancha, along with other leaders of the party on Sunday visited three upazilas of Kurigram -- Rajarhat, Kurigram Sadar and Ulipur- to see the condition of about 11 lakh monga-hit people of the district October and November are locally marked by food crisis and lack of jobs which the locals callmonga.
"We saw the dead body of a landless worker, Jaynal Abedin, 40, in Karimer Khamar in Kurigram during the visit on Sunday. His body looked almost like a skeleton as a result of starvation for long," said the eminent lawyer.
"JaynaTs wife and five children arc left behind destitute," he said.
Recalling his visit to the region last year, the GF leader said they had warned the government of such a situation time and again. After the devastating floods this year, different quarters urged the government to take adequate steps to save the landless and jobless people of the region, he mentioned.
Dr Kamal said grassroots level leaders of his party in Kurigram said lack of jobs was the main reason behind starvation and resultant diseases.
"VGF (Vulnerable Group Feeding) cards were being distrib uted but these were too small in number. Even the cards holders are entitled to get only 10 kg rice per month per family, which is too inadequate," hesaid.
Local lawmakers or ministers have taken no tangible and effective mea-sures to meet the worsening situation, he alleged.
On statements by ministers that there is no monga-situation in the northwestern region and that newspaper reports on it were exaggerated, Kamal said, " Ministers are suffering from denial disease."
He regretted that ministers arc visiting shopping malls instead of visiting the monga-affected areas to witness the gravity of the situation.
On November 4, Asadul Habib Dulu, deputy minister for food and disaster management said in the Jatiya Sangsad there was no monga in the north-western region, and no-one died from starvation.
Suggesting a permanent solution to monga problem, Kamal said the government should set up agro-based industries and assist livestockproduction and poultry farming, and check river erosion in the region.
Development of a land port in Bhurungamari, improvement of road transport system and developing Cliilrnari as a river port for substantial cargo movement could provide both employment and sources of earnings in the area, he felt.
Oikya Mancha leaders Saifuddin Ahmed Manik, Pankaj Bhattacharya, Abul Kashem and Abdur Rouf were also present at the press conference.
Meanwhile, Dulu yesterday told BBC Bangla service the government has taken adequate measures to face the situation and no-one has died from starvation till date.
"We have distributed enough VGF cards among the destitute families — about 2500 cards per union in the area," he said.
The deputy minister also said the government is going to disburse loans on easy terms among poor people of the region after the Eid-ul-Fitr.