Allegations of political favouritism, nepotism and payments have surrounded the new round of fertiliser dealer appointments across Bangladesh. Critics say the agriculture ministry approved lists sent up from the districts without checking them, putting political ties and relatives of influential people ahead of business experience, and they fear irregular distribution and more hardship for farmers, Samakal reports.
More than 47,000 applications were made for about 5,000 dealerships. People involved claim that about 80 percent of those appointed in the ministry's published partial list for 55 districts are inexperienced and hold new trade licences, and the list includes students. Traders who were left out, and some politicians and local representatives, have questioned the selection.
Under the policy, upazila and district fertiliser and seed monitoring committees are supposed to vet applicants and send a panel of three names to a central management committee. The allegation is that in many cases political recommendations counted for more than business capacity and experience.
The report gives examples. In Pirgachha, Rangpur, a list submitted to the local administration on a party letterhead matched the ministry's final list in names and order, according to documents reviewed; in eight of the upazila's nine unions the first name on the party list became the dealer. One appointee is a student at Dinajpur Government College. In Meherpur, sons, brothers and nephews of local leaders are said to have won dealerships, and in Nasirnagar, Brahmanbaria, the local MP's son and close relatives received dealerships in three unions, which the local administration confirmed.
In Kamarjani union of Gaibandha Sadar, a photograph of a party letterhead bearing the name of a new dealer's husband caused controversy on social media; the couple say they no longer belong to any party and that the dealership was won by the rules. A K M Anwarul Haque Kalu, an executive member of the Meherpur Chamber of Commerce, said he was the traders' representative on the district fertiliser and seed monitoring committee until September, that the committee was dissolved and replaced without reason, and that most of the new dealers have no business experience.
Photo: Rahat / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Source: Samakal
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