Mobile Number Complication: Farmers Unable to Sell Paddy Despite Lottery Selection

The storage barns are nearly empty. In one corner of the courtyard, the last pile of Boro paddy is slowly shrinking. Not long ago, this paddy represented farmer Shahidul Islam’s entire plan—reducing loan pressure, managing household expenses, and finally getting some post-season financial relief.

He had been selected to sell paddy to a government warehouse. His name came up in the lottery. He believed this time he might finally receive the expected fair price. But for Shahidul, a farmer from Sarvandha Union in Sundarganj upazila of Gaibandha, that hope has collided with a harsh reality.

Paddy at home, but no way to sell it

Shahidul is not alone. During the current Boro season, nearly 1,500 marginal farmers in the upazila are facing difficulties due to data-related complications. In the government’s online paddy procurement system, inconsistencies in field-level data verification and the lottery-based selection process have turned into a major problem. As a result, even farmers selected in the lottery are facing severe complications.

In Sundarganj, the Food Department selected farmers for paddy procurement through an online lottery system. Each selected farmer was supposed to be eligible to sell one ton of paddy. A list of 1,965 farmers was published. However, it has now emerged that the mobile numbers linked with the National ID (NID) of selected farmers often belong to someone else. This small error has become a major barrier—farmers cannot sell their paddy to government warehouses because the phone numbers do not match their identities.

Shahidul said that after his name appeared in the lottery, he had set aside his paddy in anticipation of a fair price from the government. Now, however, he is forced to visit various offices every day, hoping for a solution. “The paddy is at home, but there is no way to sell it,” he said.

Saeiful Islam, another farmer from Bamandanga Union, is facing the same issue. He said someone else had submitted the application using his name for paddy sales. Although he learned that his name was selected in the lottery and decided to sell to the government warehouse, the mobile number linked with his NID belongs to another person. When that number is called, someone else answers, causing his sale process to be suspended. As a result, he is now forced to sell his paddy in the local market at a loss.

Farmer Jahanara Begum shared a similar frustration. She said, “Someone else used my NID to apply online, but the phone number used is not mine. Because of this mistake in the documents, my paddy is not being accepted at the warehouse.”

She questioned, “My NID is correct, so why should my paddy be rejected because of a phone number? What matters more here—the phone number or the fact that I am a farmer?”
Broker syndicate and third parties allegedly take advantage

Recently, District Commissioner Masudur Rahman Molla inaugurated the paddy procurement program in Gaibandha district. During the event, when a phone call was made to a woman who had won the lottery in the Sadar upazila, a different person answered. He said he did not know any woman named Parveen. Following the incident, the District Commissioner instructed verification of all mobile numbers used in the lists across all upazilas. He directed the concerned departments to identify incorrect numbers and submit a verification report after proper checking.

However, implementing this verification process is taking time—and that delay has now become the biggest problem for farmers. While paddy remains stored in homes, market prices continue to fluctuate daily. Due to urgent cash needs, many farmers are being forced to sell their paddy at low prices to local middlemen instead of receiving fair value through the government procurement system.

According to sources in the District Food Department, farmer registration is done by matching National ID (NID) numbers with mobile numbers. However, in many cases, farmers did not submit their own information directly and instead relied on third parties for registration. In other cases, dishonest groups have used someone else’s NID with different mobile numbers to submit applications. As a result, verifying the identity of genuine farmers has become complicated, and many procurement processes have been temporarily suspended following instructions from the District Commissioner.

Agricultural office data shows that a total of 3,187 farmers in the district have been targeted to purchase 9,563 metric tons of paddy this season. The procurement price has been set at 36 taka per kilogram. According to allocation, the amounts are: 1,664 tons in Sadar upazila, 1,051 in Saghata, 1,146 in Sadullapur, 1,965 in Sundarganj, 2,376 in Gobindaganj, 921 in Palashbari, and 540 in Phulchhari.

However, across six upazilas of the district and nationwide, each farmer is allowed to sell up to three metric tons of paddy. In Sundarganj, farmers can sell only one ton to the government, which has sparked dissatisfaction among beneficiaries due to the reduced quota.

Farmers allege that they have very little practical understanding of the online application process for paddy sales at the field level. Taking advantage of this gap, a broker syndicate and third parties have become involved. Now, officials are using these “number-related complications” as an excuse to halt procurement, they claim. According to them, this reflects mismanagement by the food department and a lack of consideration for ground realities.

A food department official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Agamir Shomoy that the government directly purchases paddy from farmers. Therefore, if the farmer’s NID information is correct, they should not be deprived simply due to mobile number issues.

He added that many senior officials are not fully aware of the field-level situation. In the old app, a large number of incorrect mobile numbers were used during registration. As this data has been linked to the new app, complications have increased. He also questioned why genuine farmers should suffer for the actions of broker groups. Many farmers are now discovering that applications were already submitted in their names before they even became aware of the lottery results.
Investigation reveals a different picture

Meanwhile, an investigation by Agamir Shomoy has revealed a different scenario. The root of the problem lies in weaknesses in the Food Department’s online registration system. Although farmer registration for selling paddy through an app was introduced in November 2019, many farmers at that time had little to no digital literacy. Due to system vulnerabilities, online registration could be completed easily.

Taking advantage of this, a syndicate allegedly collected copies of National ID cards from various places and created fake registrations. Since there was no OTP verification system at the time, such irregularities were even easier to carry out.

It is reported that in Sundarganj alone, nearly half a million applications were submitted using fake mobile numbers over the past five years. The number of registered farmers has now reached around 70,000. During the current Boro season, about 39,000 applications have been submitted across 15 unions and one municipality. Because arbitrary mobile numbers were used in many of these applications, confusion has arisen regarding the identity of genuine farmers.

In addition, applications submitted between 2019 and 2024 through the farmer app without OTP verification are said to be causing the most complications now. During that period, without any mobile number verification system, a large number of fake and inconsistent numbers were used to complete registrations, the effects of which are still being felt.

In 2025, a new app was introduced where mobile number verification was made mandatory during the application process. This effectively stopped new fake registrations. However, during the integration of old app data with the new system, previously unverified records and entries with fake numbers were also merged. As a result, old irregularities have persisted within the new framework. Officials in the district, however, claim they were not fully aware of this cross-system data integration.

Upazila Food Controller Swapan Kumar and Food Procurement Committee Chairperson and Upazila Nirbahi Officer Iffat Jahan Tuli said that, following instructions from the District Commissioner, verification of the list of farmers selected through the lottery is ongoing. After verification, those whose information is found to be correct will be allowed to sell paddy according to regulations.

District Food Controller Mizanur Rahman said that complications arising from earlier registrations without OTP verification or the use of incorrect mobile numbers are being reviewed. He added that farmers whose information is verified as correct will be allowed to sell paddy. However, if false or inconsistent information is found, procurement from those individuals will be rejected.

Multiple attempts were made to obtain a statement from District Commissioner Masudur Rahman Molla, but he did not respond.