The BNP has demanded that the government allocate another Tk 100 billion to purchase an additional 65 metric ton of paddy from the farmers.
“The rice factory owners are buying at lower prices and selling to the government at a profit of Tk 10 per kilo,” Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir told the media on Saturday (May 25).
“Meanwhile, the farmers are selling their paddy in the market at a loss of Tk 10-12 per kilogram,” he added.
Fakhrul said that estimated production of boro rice will be nearly 20 million ton among which the government will purchase 130,000 ton which is “a meager 6.5 percent of the total production.”
“We demand that the government purchase at least 15 percent of the production,” he said.
Alleging that the state-owned banks were facilitating corruption, Fakhrul said, “At the moment loan default at the banking sectors are Tk 1000 billion. If the government can allocate at least 10 percent of that amount they can procure an additional 36 ton of paddy from the farmers and help them.”
The senior leader said that the government storages have the capacity to store almost 2.18 million of crops.
“If the government really wants to help the farmers they should rent storage and procure paddy and rice.”
He said that the government should widen its social safety net program so that the farmers’ production can be used to the maximum.
The secretary general said that corrupt food division employees were taking bribes of Tk 3-5 per kilogram to purchase paddy from the farmers.
Fakhrul added that nearly 15 million farmer families were leading frugal lives as they are being denied fair prices for their crops.