The Ministry of Food has set a target of collecting 3 lakh tonnes of paddy in this year's Boro season, which was 6 lakh tonnes last year. Criticizing the decision on Friday, three prominent citizens of the country made a statement. They say the government has reduced the amount of paddy collection to deprive the farmers and benefit the millers.
Among the statement are the members of the Democratic Rights Committee Professor Anu Muhammad, former Agriculture Secretary Anwar Farooq, Dhaka University teacher Mosahida Sultana, author and researcher Altaf Parvez, author and researcher Kolol Mostafa, Jahangirnagar University, Jahangirnagar University.
According to the statement, no crops other than rice and rice are bought officially in Bangladesh. Again, opaque and inefficient methods are applied to determine the price while collecting the product from the farmers. As a result, the farmers were victims of cheating year after year.
