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Published on July 11, 2016
The approval came at the regular cabinet meeting held at Bangladesh Secretariat with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair.
After the meeting, Cabinet Secretary Mohammad Shafiul Alam briefed reporters.
The BARI is running under the existing law formulated through an ordinance in 1976 during the Martial Law regime, he said, adding that it was amended twice --first in 1984 and later in 1996.
As per a Supreme Court directive that declared all martial law regimes ordinances illegal, the draft law was placed in Bangla and incorporating four new sections in the existing law.
Alam said the draft law has been formulated to cope with modern agricultural research activities as the world advanced a lot in agriculture sector using innovative ideas and new technologies to increase production.
The cabinet secretary said there are 22 sections including four new ones in the draft law.
About the institute, he said, its office will be located at Joydevpur of Gazipur district while the board could set up branch offices in other parts of the country subject to prior approval of the government.
The BARI will have an 11 member Board of Directors with the DG of the institute as the Chairman to be appointed by the government, while annual budget allocation, administrative works, audit and property management will be under the jurisdiction of the DG.
Members of the board include: agriculture scientists nominated by the Ministry of Agriculture, a representative of the Ministry of Agriculture not below the post of Deputy Secretary, a representative of the Bangladesh Agriculture Research Council and a representative from a private organization working on agricultural research.
Besides, other directors of the board will be nominated from various departments under the Ministry of Agriculture holding the positions of director.
Alam said the board will hold meeting once in every four months, and the quorum will be fulfilled with the attendance of the 50 percent of the members.
Explaining the activities of the BARI, the cabinet secretary said, it will formulate and approve detail outlines for conducting research and take initiative to innovate new varieties of crops and ensure stable agriculture researches through quality research and proper management.
Besides, it will also provide necessary information and technology to the farmers as well as conduct researches on various problems related to agriculture sector, he said.
Alam added that the BARI will also arrange exhibition on new varieties of crops, publish annual reports and booklets on new crops, and impart necessary training to the researchers, officials and employees of the Department Agriculture Extension as well as facilitate post-graduate researches on agriculture.
About some new features, he said, the BARI will conduct necessary researches to face adverse impact of climate change, innovate new varieties of crops adaptable to climate change and apply ICT in the agriculture sector.
The cabinet secretary said the cabinet also endorsed two separate proposals for ratification of two agreements with Kuwait and Bahrain.
The deals are: "The Agreement between the Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh and the Government of the State of Kuwait for the Promotion and Reciprocal Protection of Investments" and "The Agreement on the Promotion and Reciprocal Protection of Investments between the Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh and the Government of the Kingdom of Bahrain".
With the implementation of the deals, Alam said, the Kuwaiti and Bahraini investors could invest in Bangladesh under a legal framework, while Bangladeshi investors also could invest in those countries.
Besides, the meeting was apprised of the visit of a Bangladesh delegation led by the shipping minister to North Port and Malakka LNG Terminal on February 4-6.
The visit of a Bangladesh team led by the science and technology minister to Germany and the Republic of Korea under a "Study Project for Establishing a World Class State-of-the-Art Science and Technology Museum" was also apprised.
Ministers and state ministers concerned attended the meeting, while secretaries concerned were present.
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