Going by international norms, rice produced more than three years ago would be considered as fodder, not fit for human consumption, and therefore neither tradable nor distributable. The stuff procured from China and Australia under a Japanese food grant as part of the World Food Programme (WFP) commitment was received at Chittagong port at the end of last year. Clearly, five years have passed since the rice was produced.

Moreover, the moisture content of the rice procured from China was more than 14.5 percent which is clearly above the stipulated maximum.

Even so, this rice, now stacked up in silos in Chittagong, Cox's Bazar, Khagrachhari and Bandarban seems set to be distributed to the rural destitute under vulnerable group development programme (VGD), going by the food directorate's instructions.

There is a plethora of questions begging answer here. How did it come to happen, and who is to be held accountable for this raw deal to a helpless segment of humanity? Does it not constitute an act of dumping?

The BSTI representative at Chittagong was quoted as saying, "Our basic job is to test the edibility of a food grain and if it is found wrong, to proceed legally against it." He has not obviously done his job nor have the food department officials who reportedly shied away from bringing it up lest it offends the WFP. But in any case, more than one internal report of the food directorate have highlighted the poor quality of the stuff, especially against the backdrop of a five-month long shut down of the VGD programme due to political circumstances.

Taking all these into account, we urge the caretaker government to stop distribution of the substandard rice and probe the matter thoroughly with actions taken where necessary so that we are spared this predicament in future.