Allegations of major corruption in school feeding, 17 crores lost in bananas and eggs

The government primary school feeding project has been running in about 150 upazilas across the country since November 17, 2025. Currently, five types of food are being provided to children at a cost of about Tk 5,000 crore in this project. This list includes eggs, bana roti, milk, bananas and biscuits. However, there are allegations that children are being given low-quality food in this project. A survey conducted by Jamuna Television in 11 upazilas showed that 17 crore taka is being provided to children a week just from bananas, eggs and bana roti. Children are facing health risks by eating this low-quality food.
Child Raisa Muntaha was hospitalized for two days after eating food from the school feeding project. She said that her stomach was hurting. According to her, all the food was chemical. Raisa’s fear of lunch has not gone away yet. Similarly, her mother Jannatul is worried about her child. She said, “What is the use of giving me poisonous food? There is no use. And what will I do if something happens to the children? Who will give me the child?”
When checking the lunch of students of Thupshahar Government Primary School in Kalai Upazila of Joypurhat, it was found that there was fungus in the bun bread served for lunch. As a result, a foul smell was coming out of the food. In this regard, the school’s headmaster Ziaul Haque said that such incidents happen regularly. No action has been taken in this regard till date. The same picture was also seen at Telihar Government Primary School in Kalai Upazila of the district. The school teacher said that eating this bread will cause stomach pain.
The price of a 120-gram bun bread has been fixed at 24 taka. The bread is also soaked to maintain the weight. Talking to students from several other nearby districts, it was learned that a kind of foul smell comes out of the bread, which makes the bread unfit to eat. Therefore, the children often throw it away. However, according to the rules, eggs weighing at least 60 grams must be given. Each one costs up to 14 taka. However, the investigation found that the weight of each egg does not exceed 35 or 40 grams.
When a farmer went to a farm in Pabna to find out that eggs of lower weight were being given instead of 60 grams, he said that the price of small eggs is one taka less. He also said that eggs of 55 grams fall into the category of large eggs and are also more expensive. If 29 lakh 58 thousand 750 students are given one taka every day because of this, then lakhs of taka will illegally enter the pockets of officials across Bangladesh every day, crores of taka every week. In addition to being cheap in weight and price, there are also complaints of improperly boiled and rotten eggs being supplied. According to the students, these eggs cannot be eaten, they are also rotten. Meanwhile, the students said that the middle part of the bananas is often bad. In this regard, a teacher said that the parents are complaining that if they feed these bananas, they should first buy cough medicine for their children. It was seen on the spot that the students were unable to eat these bananas. According to them, the bananas are hard, and if they are raw, they taste sour. When visiting a school in Rupganj, Narayanganj, it was seen that the bananas weighed 90 grams. However, the suppliers were supposed to provide bananas weighing 100 grams. According to the agreement, the price of each banana weighing 100 grams was falling to 10.5 taka.
A visit to Durgadah Bazar, one of the banana markets in the northern region, showed that each banana costs 3 to 3.5 taka. Even based on weight, the price varies. If 7 taka is allocated for each banana in the banana budget for students, then about 2 crore taka is going into the pockets of unscrupulous officials every week. More than 300 students have fallen ill in different places after eating these low-quality bananas, bread and eggs. However, the highest incidence of illness has occurred in Chapainawabganj.
On April 22, 20 students fell ill at Shankarbati Government Primary School in Chapainawabganj. They said that they had stomach pain and vomiting after eating bread. The Public Development Organization (GAK) supplies bananas, bread and eggs to 2.5 million students in 12 upazilas of Rajshahi division alone. One said, “If we count, we get 22,000 eggs. Is it possible to test so many eggs?” The project director said, “We have to take action against the contractor. Because in fact, we are not willing to make any concessions regarding this food for small children.”
Public health expert Professor Dr. Be-Nazir Ahmed said, “If the ingredients are harmful, it can damage the liver of children. And if it is stale or rotten, it can cause diarrhea, jaundice, hepatitis A and E.” When Education Minister Dr. A.N.M. Ehsanul Haque informed Milon about the overall issue, he said, “From now on, the food committee will have head teachers and management committees, they will understand the issue, instructions have been given.” Incidentally, the government wants to spend Tk 12,000 crore to provide food to all government primary schools in the country under the school feeding project in the future.