Low paddy price may cost vote

Speaker Abdul Hamid yesterday expressed frustration over the low prices of paddy, saying if the farmers do not get fair prices for their produce, it may have a negative impact on the ruling Awami League's votes in the next general election.
"Prices of paddy really need consideration. Otherwise, I don't know about other regions, but it [low prices of paddy] will create a big problem in our region [haor areas] in the coming election," said Hamid, who was elected to parliament from a constituency in Kishoreganj.
"People will say that you sit in the chair but you do not think about our sufferings," he said, expressing doubts whether people would vote in the coming election.
"Allah Bharosa (Allah knows) what happens," he said.
Hamid made the remarks at the Second National Haor Conference held at Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council in Dhaka.
Finance Minister AMA Muhith chaired the programme.
"Sometimes I think I have never failed (in election) and what is the point in losing at this age. It is better to go for retirement (stop participating in parliamentary election)," Hamid said.
But if he wants to retire at this stage of life, he said, he will have to do so with the dissatisfaction that he could do little for the development of the haor areas.
The Speaker's comments followed Jatiya Party lawmaker Mujibul Haque Chunnu's demand for ensuring fair prices of paddy.
Chunnu, also chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Haor, noted that farmers, especially in the haor areas, depend heavily on paddy. "Save us (people of the haor areas) by ensuring fair prices," he added.
Prices of paddy and rice fell after the harvest of Aman paddy at the end of last year, and continued to remain lower than that in the previous year.
In his speech, the finance minister admitted that the government did not succeed in ensuring fair prices of paddy.
Muhith said haor areas had a good harvest of rice last year, and the harvest is going to be good this year also due to building of rubber dams and submersible roads by the agriculture ministry. But increased production has given rise to the issue of fair prices.
"Prices have fallen this year. We are trying to ensure fair prices but we are yet to succeed. We also could not check the fall of prices despite public purchase (of rice)."
Muhith said one way of giving more support to farmers is providing subsidy for farm inputs. "We have continued this support for the last four years," he added.