DHAKA: Bangladesh government has decided to digitalize the food grains collection system aiming to eradicate the interference of the middlemen and to ensure the benefit of the farmers.

Sources concerned have confirmed that “Earnest and Young”, an UK-based firm has been assigned to digitalize the food grains collection system of Bangladesh Food Department.

The project will be financed by the World Bank (WB), they added.

Bangladesh Computer Council (BCC) under department of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has appointed the UK-based firm, which has already started their task and within 6 months, they will deliver software-based application for food grains collection.

This application will be consisting of online registration system for the farmers, information about the amount of their products, text-messaging system to inform farmers about the price and the regulations of purchasing system and so on.

While talking to banglanews, state minister for ICT Zunaid Ahmed Palak said, “Government has decided to initiate digital system instead of traditional arrangement aiming to eradicate the interference of the middlemen and to ensure that the farmers getting fair price for every kilogram of paddy or rice they want to sell to the government”.

“If the food grain collection system is digitalized, the farmers will get text message or email to their respective union digital centers and they can sell their paddy or rice directly to the local government food grain collection centers,” the state minister added.

By this system, the middlemen, who used to buy paddy and rice from the farmers in less than the government set price, can be ignored.

BCC executive director SM Ashraful Islam said, “Every year government purchases 12-lakh Metric Tons of rice and paddy in Boro session. Due to the traditional system of collection, there are complaints that the farmers often don’t get fair price for their food grains”.

“These complaints will be resolved if the food grain collection system of the Food Department is digitalized under the project of BCC,” opined the executive director.

The project’s deputy director Tareq M Barkatullah has informed banglanews that digitalization of the food grain collection system is a part of the execution of the government’s ICT road map.

“Government will ensure the installation of an IT network in ICT sector and inter departmental information and communication among the government organizations.”

BDST: 1408 HRS, DEC 27, 2015
AIK/RS/RR