Staff Reporter:
Prime Minister Tarique Rahman yesterday chaired an inter-ministerial meeting on introducing ‘Farmer Card’ aimed at ensuring fair prices for crops produced by farmers.
The Prime Minister presided over the meeting at his special meeting room at the Cabinet Division in the Bangladesh Secretariat here, Prime Minister’s Press Secretary Saleh Shibly said.
After the high-level meeting, Information and Broadcasting Minister Zahir Uddin Swapan said they have decided to launch a smart “Farmer Card” for all farmers across the country alongside the “Family Card”.
“The “Farmer Card” will be distributed to all the farmers nationwide directly at the quickest possible time in accordance with the direction of Prime Minister,” he said.
He said the Prime Minister has directed the relevant ministries to begin work immediately on distrib-uting the smart farmer cards.
“The Prime Minister has instructed all relevant ministries to start the process of distributing smart farmer cards. Through this card, farmers will receive government services directly, and the interference of mid-dlemen in the procurement of agricultural inputs will be stopped,” the minister said.
Swapan noted that the government had previously decided to introduce the smart farmer card and that Monday’s meeting marked the first formal step toward implementation.
“Our commitment was to provide farmer cards along with family cards. Work will now begin through a pilot project,” he said, adding that the initiative will be rolled out in phases nationwide.
The Prime Minister presided over the meeting, which was attended by ministers from the relevant minis-tries.
Responding to questions about the benefits of the card, Swapan said that all production-related facilities would be brought under the smart system.
Farmers will receive direct government support in areas such as agricultural knowledge and advisory services, easy access to modern machinery, fertilizers, pesticides and quality seeds and other essential agricultural inputs, he stated.
Additionally, farmers will be able to access real-time information on market conditions, production forecasts and weather updates through the smart system, he continued.
“This will help farmers make informed decisions, and the state will also be able to plan more effective-ly,” Swapan said.
Emphasizing transparency, the minister said the government is moving toward a fully digital and smart system to prevent leakage and third-party interference.
“Just as a mobile SIM buyer gets direct service, direct communication will be established between the farmer and the state through this card. There will be no third party,” he said.
