Be More Active To Implement Projects In Time Maintaining Quality: PM to Agricultural Ministry Officials

She said that the budget of Agriculture Ministry in the Annual Development Programme (ADP) is being enhanced in every fiscal year and Taka 12,288 crore were allocated in the agriculture sector in the current budget.

"So I am giving directives to all to be more active to implement every development project on time by maintaining the quality," she said.

The Prime Minister said this while addressing senior officials of the Agriculture Ministry during her visit to the ministry here this morning.

Agriculture Minister Begum Matia Chowdhury also spoke on the occasion.

PM's Principal Secretary Abdus Sobhan Sikdar, PMO Secretary Md Abul Kalam Azad, Agriculture Secretary Nazmul Islam and Press Secretary AKM Shameem Chowdhury were present on the occasion.

Sheikh Hasina called upon all concerned to play more effective role in the development of marketing of agri produces and ensuring their fair prices.

"The Agriculture Ministry has been working for development of marketing of agri produces and ensuring their fair prices. So I urge all concerned to play more effective role in this connection," she said.

Underscoring the need for more mechanization of the agriculture sector, the Prime Minister said the government has taken steps so that every farmer family could hold at least one agri machine.

"The area and amount of subsidy on agri machineries would be increased further gradually," she said.

In this connection, Sheikh Hasina directed the officials concerned to take initiatives to encourage the children of the farmers in engaging agricultural work.

After completing study, she said, the children of the farmers don't want to engage in agricultural work. "So you will have to take initiative to remove this reluctance and convince them it (agri work) is a better task," she said.

The Prime Minister said the students will have to be spurred in agricultural work side by side with study. "They will have to be persuaded that it is an important and holy task," she said.

Sheikh Hasina hoped that the scientists and researchers would come forward further to research and development activities for boosting agri production.

She said her government has made arrangement of incentives to encourage the agri scientists. "We have taken a decision to raise the retirement age of the agri scientists to 67," she added.

In the last fiscal year, she said, the money equivalent to the one month basic salary was given to 1,222 agri scientists as incentives.

The Prime Minister thanked the Agriculture Ministry for undertaking a master plan for overall agriculture development of the coastal area meaning 14 southern districts.

She, however, underscored the need for taking necessary initiatives for executing this plan on time to face the overall agriculture challenges of the southern region and integrated development of the water management including the crop, fishery and livestock sectors.

The Prime Minister said Bangladesh has become self-reliant in food thanks to hard and relentless labour of the farmers as well as devotion to work by all officials and employees of the Agriculture Ministry and its every organization.

"I hope that you would be able to build a sustainable and environment-friendly commercial agriculture system by optimum application of your knowledge and experience and the government always remains beside you," she said.

-Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS)