Staff Correspondent: Agriculture Minister and Awami League (AL) Presidium Member Md Abdur Razzaque on Monday said the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) is working to bring a specific political party to power.
“CPD conducts many surveys with political motives. They want to bring a political party to the power as they are the partners of that party,” he said while exchanging views with journalists at the ministry’s conference room in the Secretariat here after a meeting on the progress of the increasing export of agricultural products.
Agriculture Secretary Wahida Akter presided over the meeting while officials concerned were present at the meeting.
Questioning on the CPD’s recent survey finding that ‘corruption is the biggest obstacle to the country’s business, Razzaque said people should be informed of their research methodology.
“The method and objectivity of CPD’s survey are questionable. CPD is neither a sacred entity nor a neutral one,” he added.
When the Coronavirus and Russia-Ukraine war hindered the development pace in countries like USA, Japan, and India, which also witnessed negative growth, the minister said, “How does CPD see Bangladesh’s positive growth despite this situation? Is it a magical achievement?”
International organizations, including the World Bank and IMF, said that the growth in the country (Bangladesh) is now around 6 per cent, Razzaque said, adding, “Does CPD know how we gave potassium fertilizer at a subsidised price to the farmers after buying it at $ 1200 per ton instead of $250 due to price hike?”
Noting that corruption is more or less a common scenario across the world, including developed countries, he said there are many instances of corruption in the United States and Germany as well.
There is also a little bit of corruption in the developing country- Bangladesh, the minister said, “Khaleda Zia is serving jail in connection with a graft case. It cannot be said that corruption has been eradicated from the country”.
Speaking about the export of agricultural products and potatoes, he said that the government is implementing two roadmaps in this regard.
Separate scanners for agricultural products have already been installed at the airport and steps have been taken to allow cargo ships to go directly to the Middle East (instead of via Singapore), the minister added.
Works for implementing good agricultural practices and setting up a modern packing house at Purbachal are underway, Razzaque said, adding, however, there are still some obstacles, including banking problems and not getting the 20 per cent incentive properly given to the export of agricultural products.
The government is working to eliminate these problems, he added.
