The government is going to give smart cards to 1.62 crore farmers across the country to provide them all benefits.
The farmer would have to show this card to avail government incentives. At the same time, the farmers have to take all the benefits of agriculture including fertilizers and seeds by showing the smart card.
The Department of Agricultural Extension will make this card for farmers.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture, farmers now have a paper card in their hands. They have to suffer while using this card.
For that, the smart card will be given as the digital identity of the farmer. In the first phase, digital profiles of 1.62 crore farmers will be created.
In the second step, the rest of the farmers will be given cards and their profiles will be created.
An experimental project has been undertaken at a cost of Tk 98 crore. It will cost Tk 45 to make each card.
It is learned that the work of making smart cards will start within this year. The Department of Agricultural Extension wants to complete the project by 2024.
An inter-ministerial meeting on the project was held online last week.
At that meeting, the Planning Commission was asked whether the kind of information in the smart card would be the same kind of information as in the national identity card.
Despite having a national identity card, the officials of the planning commission questioned the need for another new card.
Therefore, it is proposed whether the services to farmers can be included in the national identity card.
In response, the Department of Agricultural Extension said that the permission of the NID authorities has to be taken to provide agricultural services to the farmers using the national identity card.
At the same time, one has to pay Tk 1.15 every time to get a service. This will increase the complexity.
A senior official of the agriculture ministry said that a plan has been taken to give smart cards to farmers in the interest of farmers. It should have happened much earlier, he added.
Whether agricultural services can be provided through NID, we first suggested, he said while adding that according to the Department of Agricultural Extension, this will increase the complexity.
The Department of Agricultural Extension said it wants to train 4,000 people under the project.
Among them, 1,200 people are district and upazila level BCS (agriculture) officers and 1,920 deputy assistant agriculture officers.
Besides, training will be given to 900 farmers. The cost for this has been kept at Tk 4.25 crore.
When asked, Matiur Rahman, Additional Secretary (Agriculture Department) of Planning Commission said, “We first proposed whether agricultural services could be provided through NID. According to the Department of Agricultural Extension, this will increase the complexity. They said that smart cards are essential to provide easy services to the farmers.”
