Tk3,000cr agri project in Bangladesh under ACC scanner

Corruption allegations:

• Low-quality machinery sold at discounted prices
• Inexperienced machinery suppliers involved
• Multiple sales of same machinery
• Machinery not provided to listed farmers
• Machinery distributed without testing
• Personal corruption among project officials

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has launched an investigation into allegations of irregularities regarding a Tk3,000 crore project aimed at modernising the farm production system.

The implementation of the "Agricultural Mechanisation Project through Integrated Management" started in June 2020 with the aim of increasing crop productivity by increasing the use of machinery, preventing crop wastage, saving time and money in cultivation, reducing production costs in agriculture in order to deal with the severity of labour shortage in agriculture.

Under the scheme, various machines, including rice transplanter, reaper, combine harvester, power thresher, seeder, etc, are being distributed at 70% subsidy in the haor (lowland with large water bodies) and southern coastal areas, and at 50% subsidy in other areas.

But soon after the project got underway, allegations surfaced that low-quality machinery was being sold to farmers at discounted prices. The allegations got a solid foundation after the release of a report by the Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division (IMED) in June this year.

In the middle of last November, the anti-corruption watchdog formed a committee, headed by its deputy director Yasir Arafat. The committee is investigating the allegations in two phases – the personal corruption of the former and current officials and employees of the project, and various forms of corruption in distribution and purchase of agricultural machinery.

According to ACC officials, former project director Benazir Alam, present DPD Altabun Nahar, Monitoring Officer Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Senior Accountant Abdul Khalek and Assistant Accountant Arman are among the seven people under investigation on charges of personal corruption.

The committee has started scrutinising and verifying various aspects, including the recruitment of personnel, appointment of consultants, and validation of the legitimacy of organisations involved in machinery supply since the beginning of the project until now. The committee is also examining whether the machinery has been sold appropriately, and it has initiated assessments related to the project's procurement, distribution, and existing conditions.

Project Director Tariq Mahmudul Islam told The Business Standard, "The ACC has sent a letter. We are cooperating with it on all the information it wants from us."

There should not be discussions over the allegations while the investigation is underway, he said.

What IMED report shows

According to the IMED report, farmers are reluctant to use low-quality machines such as head feed combine harvesters due to their frequent breakdowns. This has raised concerns about the return on investment in harvesters. Many farmers did not get quality equipment under the project.

Many supplying companies have been included in the project without any expertise, as numerous establishments dealing in agricultural machinery were listed in the project without requiring any specific experience. Conditions related to expertise in the business of agricultural machinery were stipulated for inclusion.

Allegations of various irregularities, such as multiple sales of the same machinery, collection of more funds for distribution than the sale of machinery, multiple withdrawals of funds for distribution using the same machinery, failure to provide machinery to listed farmers, and distribution of machinery among farmers without field testing, have been reported from different sources.

Many received devices from the project without being enrolled, while others did not receive devices despite being enlisted. Many took multiple devices from the project under different names.

After the names of many farmers were finally listed, through including the machine name, model, engine and chassis number, an official signature was taken on a stamp of Tk300. The supplier company has taken subsidy money several times with the device in collusion with some officials of the project office. Again, in areas where 50% subsidy is supposed to be given, 70% subsidy has been given.

Machine suppliers are supposed to have service centres in different districts of the country, but most of them do not have them. Therefore, when a machine becomes faulty, farmers have to wait for an extended period because the necessary requirement of mechanics is not available with these companies.