UP chairmen boycott relief committee meeting in Satkhira

All the UP chairmen are members of the committee.

The committee meeting began at about 11 am at Shyamnagar Upazila Nirbahi Officer's office with UNO Zahidul Islam in the chair to decide distribution of Tk 35 lakh allotted for the upazila.

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An exchange of words ensued as soon as the UNO informed the meeting that local Jamaat lawmaker will distribute Tk 25 lakh among affected people and the rest Tk 10 lakh will be distributed by the UP chairmen.

The UP chairmen demanded Tk 25 lakh to be distributed hy them and Tk 10 lakh by the lawmaker.

As the UNO turned down their demand, the chairmen left the meeting.

On contact, three UP chairmen -- Jaglul Haidar, Amjad Hossain and Liakat Ali said as per rule and practice, UP chairmen are supposed to distribute the entire allotted money among affected people but the UNO arbitrarily sanctioned Tk 25 lakh to the lawmaker.

The UNO has violated local government rules, they alleged.

UNO Zahidul Islam said the UP chairmen and the Jamaat lawmaker are at odds. So they left the meeting.