Prime Minister Tarique Rahman will officially launch the much-anticipated ‘Farmer Card’ initiative on Pahela Baishakh, marking the start of the Bengali New Year.
The programme will be launched with a ceremonial distribution of cards to farmers in Tangail Sadar Upazila, as part of the government’s ongoing efforts to fulfill its election promises.
The decision to roll out the programme was made during a meeting on the inception of the Farmer Card Cell, which took place at the Cabinet Division on Tuesday afternoon.
The prime minister’s Additional Press Secretary Atiqur Rahman Ruman confirmed the launch of the initiative in a statement after the meeting.
According to Ruman, the Farmer Card programme will begin simultaneously in 11 upazilas across the country, including Tangail Sadar.
The first phase of the program will benefit 21,500 farmers in these upazilas, who will receive financial assistance through mobile banking.
The ‘Farmer Card’ will serve as a banking debit card and will be distributed to farmers in the agriculture, fisheries, and livestock sectors.
The card is designed to provide a yearly incentive of Tk2,500 to landless, marginal, and small-scale farmers for the purchase of essential agricultural supplies such as seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, and animal feed.
In addition to Tangail Sadar, the other upazilas where the programme will be launched include Kamalapur and Boda in Panchagarh, Shibganj in Bogura, Shailkupa in Jhenaidah, Nesarabad in Pirojpur, Teknaf in Cox’s Bazar, Adarsha Sadar in Cumilla, Islampur in Jamalpur, Goalanda in Rajbari, and Juri in Moulvibazar.
The initiative aims to provide farmers with a reliable identity card, ensuring that government subsidies, loans, and other forms of assistance are distributed more efficiently and transparently. It is also expected to improve the overall management of agricultural support programmes.
The meeting also focused on the use of modern technology for the digital storage and management of farmer data.
Agriculture, Fisheries and Livestock Minister Mohammed Aminur Rashid, State Minister for Fisheries and Livestock Sultan Salauddin Tuku; Rashed Al Mahmud Titumir, the prime minister’s adviser on finance and planning; State Minister for Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives Mir Shahe Alam and other senior officials from relevant ministries were in attendance at the meeting.
