Dhaka:Agriculture Minister Mohammed Aminur Rashid has announced that the government employs a three-tier scrutiny process for the appointment of fertiliser dealers, involving both upazila and district-level committees.
According to Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha, the appointments are carried out following the prescribed policy, with final decisions made based on recommendations from the relevant committees. This was stated by the minister in response to a supplementary question from National Citizen Party (NCP) lawmaker Md Abul Hasnat of Cumilla-4 during a question-answer session in the Jatiya Sangsad.
The minister explained that the government has established two committees at the upazila and district levels to assess applications for fertiliser dealership. The upazila-level committee is headed by the Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO), while the district-level committee is led by the Deputy Commissioner (DC). Applications are invited through public notices, with specific eligibility criteria and conditions set for applicants.
Committees at the upazila level scrutinise applications with the involvement of relevant block agriculture officers and local representatives before forwarding their recommendations to the DC's office. At the district level, the committee, which includes the district agriculture officer and UNOs, reviews the proposals received from upazilas and recommends three candidates in order of preference.
The recommendations, signed by all committee members, are then sent to the ministry for final approval, with the ministry appointing the top-ranked candidate. The minister emphasized that the process is collaborative, with recommendations endorsed by all committee members, ensuring that no individual makes decisions single-handedly.