More agricultural machinery shown distributed than imported: ACC

More agricultural machinery has been "shown distributed" than imported, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) said today (8 January).

The ACC uncovered this during a probe into alleged irregularities in the distribution of 40,000 agricultural machines, including harvesters, under the Agricultural Mechanization Project of the Department of Agricultural Extension.

The enforcement operation, led by Assistant Director Shazzad Hussain, was carried out at the project office by an ACC team. The team visited the relevant office at the head office of the Department of Agricultural Extension.

During the inspection, the team confirmed the truth of the allegations, which included irregularities in the distribution of harvester machines, fraudulent practices in identifying real farmers, overcharging farmers by three times the actual price, and negligence by project authorities.

Shazzad Hussain, the team leader, said that machinery were distributed in three phases: the first phase (2009-2013) allocated Tk150 crore, the second phase (2014-2020) allocated Tk339 crore, and the third phase (2020-2024) allocated Tk3,020 crores.

Hussain also said the government provides subsidies for combined harvester machines: 50% for plain areas and 70% for haor areas.

"Although 40,000 agricultural machines of 12 types have been distributed on paper, they do not exist in reality. Netrakona received the highest number of harvesters, with 900 distributed, which is suspiciously higher than other districts," he added.

He also said that orders were placed for machines from two companies, Bangla Mark and Adi Limited, despite not meeting the required conditions.

The team collected records related to the allegations during the operation. After reviewing these records, the enforcement team will submit a detailed report to the Commission.