State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Anindya Islam Amit has said that urban consumers may face power cuts if necessary to ensure uninterrupted electricity supply to farmers’ fields.
“We must ensure electricity supply to agricultural fields so that irrigation is not affected under any circumstances. If necessary, urban consumers will remain without electricity, but farmers’ irrigation must not be disrupted. We are committed to fulfilling the government’s promise and accountability to farmers in letter and spirit,” he said.
He made the remarks while speaking as the chief guest at a programme organized by the Department of Agricultural Extension for the distribution of free seeds and chemical fertilizers among small and marginal farmers at the Jessore Sadar Upazila Parishad auditorium on Saturday afternoon.
The minister also said that the farmer card programme will be launched on an experimental basis in 10 districts on April 14, on the occasion of Pohela Boishakh. He added that efforts are being made to implement, one by one, the commitments of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party towards farmers and the public.
On the issue of fuel price increases, he said global fuel prices had risen due to war, but the government had not increased fuel prices considering the interests of farmers.
Jessore District Agricultural Extension Department Deputy Director Md Mosharraf Hossain said that 3,400 small and marginal farmers in the district were provided with one kilogram of jute seed and five kilograms each of MOP and DAP fertilizer free of cost.
The programme was chaired by Jessore Sadar Upazila Nirbahi Officer Md Shahriar Haque. Others who spoke included Jessore Zila Parishad Administrator and district BNP General Secretary Delwar Hossain Khokon, Additional Deputy Commissioner (Education and ICT) Khan Masum Billah, and Sadar Upazila Agriculture Officer Razia Sultana, among others.