Subsidy in agriculture
Non-fertiliser agri-inputs get poor amount
Staff Correspondent
Non-fertiliser agri-inputs are getting poor amount from total agri-subsidy of the government. The agriculture ministry was given only about Tk 31 crore out of total Tk 300 crore in current fiscal year. The grater share of the subsidy was allocated for the industry ministry to provide fertiliser, officials of the agriculture ministry disclosed this at a parliamentary standing committee meeting yesterday. Members of the parliamentary standing committee on agriculture ministry expressed their apprehension that the bigger amount of the subsidy proposed for next fiscal will also be spent for fertiliser depriving other agri-inputs like seeds, diesel and electricity. The government has proposed Tk 600 crore for agri-subsidy for 2004-05 fiscal year. Agriculture Minister MK Anwar along with other committee members termed the proposed subsidy as insufficient. Opposition Jatiya Party (Ershad) lawmaker Golam Mohammad Quader expressed his doubt over the fair distribution of proposed subsidy. "The agriculture ministry demanded Tk 1,200 crore for fertiliser subsidy alone. But the government has proposed only Tk 600 crore. It will not be possible to meet the fertiliser demand of the farmers as the price is getting high," Quader told The Daily Star after the meeting. The parliamentary body, however, asked the ministry to keep the distribution process of fertiliser transparent. Committee Chairman Abdul Mannan presided over the meeting held at the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban.
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