The government is firm on ensuring food security and for that it will transfer money allocated to other sector if needed to ensure food security of the country.
Due to the government’s farmer- friendly initiatives, food production in the country has increased over r the past three years. The country is ahead of Indonesia in terms of paddy production.
Agriculture minister Dr. Md. Abdur Razzque said this while speaking as the chief guest at a debate program on ‘Shadow Parliament with Proposed Budget for Social Security of Marginalized People’ organized by debate for democracy at Bangladesh Film Development Corporation in the capital on Saturday. Debate for Democracy Chairman Hasan Ahmed Chowdhury Kiron presided over the function.
The minister said, “The government has always put maximum importance on food production to ensure food security. Now it’s aiming to ensure nutritious food for all. The government is also providing subsidy for purchasing harvester machine for farmers. Besides, it is providing hybrid seeds and samples to increase food production. ”
“Modernization of agriculture and improvement of living standard of farmers is one of the priorities of the government. For this, the government is giving various subsidies. At present there is no shortage of food and the purchasing power of people has increased,” added the minister.
While speaking about the country’s growth compared to other countries the minister said Bangladesh is ahead of India in education, maternal mortality reduction, health protection and food security. It will take at least another 12 years for Pakistan to reach Bangladesh’s present growth.
The agriculture minister further said, “Considering the Covid-19 situation in this year's budget, priority has been given to the health sector and agriculture sector with the assurance of providing vaccines to the marginalized people. In addition, the government has given priority to the development of small and medium enterprises so that entrepreneurs can be created at the local level and rural people can be employed”.
Hasan Ahmed Chowdhury Kiron said, “In the proposed budget, Tk 32,731 crore has been allocated for the health sector, Tk 17,500 crore for food security and Tk 1,07,624 crore for social security. But there has been mixed reactions to the extent to which the proposed budget for marginalized people could play a role in social security at this time of crisis”.
“On the other hand, 60 million people in the country are victims of multi-dimensional poverty due to Covid-19 pandemic. About three crore people have been identified as new poor. The new budget needed to provide specific guidelines for employment and cash stimuli for the jobless during the pandemic. If 80 percent of the people cannot be vaccinated by providing mass vaccination, it will be a challenge to save their lives and save their livelihood,” added Hasan Ahmed Chowdhury Kiron.
However, he has proposed a 10- point recommendation for further enhancement of social security of marginalized people by increasing cash allowance to the extreme poor, disabled and others.
Prime Asia University became the champion by defeating World University of Bangladesh in the competition. The judges of the competition were the joint general secretary of the National Press Club - journalist Mainul Alam, the news editor of Channel I - Dr. Sakila Jasmine, Ekattar TV's economic affairs journalist - Kaberi Maitreya, development communication expert - Dr. SM Morshed and former Debate and Joint Tax Commissioner - Mehedi Hasan Tamim. At the end of the competition, crests, trophies and certificates were awarded to the participating teams.
