The New Nation - Internet Edition

Lingering fertiliser crisis

THE Boro rice cultivation is now in full swing throughout the country along with other important crops like potatoes and wheat. The supply of fertilisers, seeds, power and diesel to run irrigation pumps, are the keys to having satisfactory output of these crops. Specially the success in Boro rice cultivation is very important for the economy. The need for a bumper harvest of Boro rice is much greater this year in the backdrop of the existing food shortages in the country. The Aman harvest yielded some 16 lakh tonnes short of the target, according to some quarters because of two big floods in quick succession and the Sidr storm. The government says that the shortfall would be no more than 15 lakh tonnes. Even this amount is a large one compared to other years. What is more significant, the government must play its facilitatory role fully for the production of a very successful Boro rice crop in the coming months. Only from doing of this, both prices of rice and the need for its massive import will decline.

Urea fertiliser is the key to raising a good crop of Boro rice but the availability of it is found to be scarce in many parts of the country. This scarcity was reported to be particularly acute during the start of the Boro cropping season. Reports pouring in from all over the country suggest that the fertiliser crisis is now a full blown one. Reportedly, farmers have been agitating for supply of fertilisers in many parts of the country. Angry farmers demanding adequate supplies of fertilisers, are being reported in the press every day. It appears that fertiliser supply in relation to demand is particularly poor in most of the districts. In some areas, one bag of fertiliser is being distributed among a number of farmers which is inadequate to meet the needs of any of them. Thus, in this condition of denial of a major input, farmers are passing a very anxious time about the fate of their Boro crop. The crops are at a mature state in the fields and now is the time for maximum application of fertilisers but supplies of this commodity are running dry.

The government must not remain indifferent to these developments on the pretext of its preoccupation with other nationally important tasks. Bangladesh is still mainly an agricultural country notwithstanding its considerable economic diversification. Nearly 80 per cent of the people derive their livelihood directly or indirectly from the agrarian economy and, therefore, any significant setback caused to this economy due to production losses of the major crop, must have serious adverse repercussions. The ones who should be concerned in the government must not waste a moment in devising and implementing policies immediately to sort out the mess in the supply of fertilisers.

Stabilise edible oil prices

PRICES of edible oil have been continuing an upward trend. This essential consumer item experienced 57 percent increase in price over the last year and almost 7 percent over the past one month. The situation in the edible oil market is such that retail prices show an upward trend when prices in the wholesale market decrease.

The wholesale price of soyabean oil declined by Tk 40 per ton in the first week of the new year. But the retail prices instead of falling increased by as much as Tk 7 per litre. Soyabean oil, which was selling for Tk 90-95 per litre the week before surged to Tk 100-105 at different markets in the capital. But, according to sources close to Bangladesh Vegetable Oil and Refiners, Vanaspati Manufacturers Association and the Ministry of Commerce, there was no reason for the increase in prices as there is sufficient stock of edible oil and more is in the import pipeline.

According to the Ministry of Commerce, 'speculative factor of rumour' is responsible for the price spiral. But concerned quarters believe that unscrupulous sections of the business community are mainly responsible for the increase of price. From a motive to make extra profit they charge high prices from consumers. In the absence of an effective law to protect the rights of consumers, an unscrupulous section of traders increases prices. According to media reports, the lack of an effective policy in the country gives traders the liberty to demand any price they want. Mentioning the maximum retail price on the label of any product is mandatory in most countries. But no such labelling policy is followed in Bangladesh in case of edible oil. According to reports, the meeting of Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution (BSTI) in July 2007 was scheduled to finalise the labelling policy, which was supposed to be effective from the beginning of 2008. But for certain reasons the proposed policy is yet to see the light of day. Against this backdrop, edible oil association urged consumers not to buy edible oil above the price mentioned on the label of containers. But it is reported that manufacturers do not mention MRP on the label allegedly with a view to increasing prices taking advantage of the present situation. The Ministry of Commerce had also urged the edible oil association leaders not to raise prices but without any result.

The government thus, must intervene to protect the consumers from this unbearable situation. The proposed labelling policy must be adopted and enforced soon. Mentioning of MRP on labels must be enforced before the marketing of edible oil. The proposed Consumers Rights Protection Ordinance 2007 is in the process of finalisation. The said law should prescribe punishments for violators of consumer rights. Urgent steps should be taken to stabilise edible oil prices.

Blame goes to negligence of teachers for falling standards

Nibedita Roy

Sadia Farjana was looking forward to her first day at Dhaka University, once known as the Oxford of east. Eventually, the big day arrived. Wearing a beautiful dress, she arrived at the university well before her first class. But, Sadia had to begin her university life with a big disappointment. The teacher did not show up. She and her other classmates were dejected.

No, the teacher was neither sick nor there was any problem in his family. He did not turn up because he went to deliver lectures at a private university.

Skipping classes by the university teachers has become common. Instances are also there that teachers fly abroad leaving behind their courses unfinished. Tutorial classes are not taken regularly. Students are seen expressing anger and dissatisfaction at the situation.

According to administrative sources, the number of regular teachers in the university is now 1,473. Of them, 170 are now abroad, which means about 10 percent of the teaching force is absent. The administrative sources, however, could not provide any specific statistics as to how many teachers are engaged in second job like teaching at private universities and working in NGOs.

There are other problems too. About the state of education at science faculty, Apu Majumder, a third year student of Physics, says after attending classes all day long they have to spend a busy time at laboratory in later the afternoon. But their practical classes get delayed for lack of equipment, research materials and inadequate computers. As a result, science faculty lags behind by two years compared to other faculties. So, the students need seven years to finish a four-year honours course.

Rabindra Nath Sarker, father of Joy, a master's final year student, is worried about his family's future. He says, "I'm going to retire next month. I thought my only son would get a job after his university and take the responsibility of the family well before my retirement. But, it'll take another year for him to finish his studies. His course was supposed to be completed long ago. It's not his fault."

Another sufferer is Anwar Mehedi, a guardian of Public Administration's third year student Rafeza Mehedi. "Nowadays, people remain unemployed on completion of university education. But, in our time, it was not very difficult for a Dhaka University student to get a job," he says.

He thinks the present educational activities of the university simply do not match the standard of the past. "Teachers are now busy with other things. They now work at private universities, NGOs, consultancy firms, different agencies and research organisations. Therefore, they don't have enough time for taking classes at the university."

Partha Protim, a fourth year student of International Relations, says there should be enough books and journals in libraries of all the departments. Whatever books the libraries have are quite old. It takes time for the libraries to have contemporary books, as those are not always available.

"We're far behind when it comes to technology. Different faculties should have cyber cafés like the one we have at the Teachers-Students Centre (TSC)," he adds.

Smriti Roy, a fourth year honours student of Anthropology, says, "Our teaching system is very much conventional. The teachers take examinations on completion of some specific chapters. And, in the exams almost everyone is awarded second-class marks. Those who want to get first class need to have another quality along with study maintaining a good relationship with teachers."

Overall, the standard of education in the country's premier public university has deteriorated significantly. Even then some students are doing well.

"Some students are doing excellent results only because of their personal efforts and some exceptional teachers," says Prof Atiqur Rahman of Social Welfare and Research Faculty.

He also says, "Some vested quarters are abusing the democratic system stated in the University Ordinance 1973. This needs to be stopped. If members of the teachers recruiting appointment committee are chosen based on honesty and accountability it is possible to appoint teachers, vice-chancellors and directors."

News Network recently organised an easy competition titled 'Good Governance in Bangladesh and My Thoughts'. The prize distribution ceremony of the competition was held on May 27. Chairman of the Trustee Board of Transparency International, Bangladesh Prof Mozaffer Ahmed told the function that in terms of standard Dhaka University is not on the list of 100 universities in the world.

A senior official of the University Grants Commission (UGC) admits the educational standard of Dhaka University is falling. The UGC is still working to determine the Dhaka University's position among the universities across the globe.

"We're yet to have any statistics. But, according to different newspapers, Dhaka University has no place among 3,000 universities in the world," he says.

Prof Dr Shawkat Ara Hossain of Political Science also supports the contention that the standard of education at the Dhaka University is falling. She cited two reasons skipping classes by teachers and student politics. "If teachers are not driven by their own values it is not possible to overcome the problem."

She also says, "A teacher spend time for other universities and research activities at the cost of their main job. In Bangladesh, teachers are lowly paid compared to their counterparts in India and Pakistan.

Dr Sabbir Ahmed, assistant professor of the same department, says the standard of education a university depends on its overall situation. The standard of education in Dhaka University is falling due to student politics and lack of facilities and training.

Prof Sadrul Amin, Dean of Arts Faculty, says, "The standard of education depends on facilities and infrastructure and to ensure that we need more money. We cannot charge more. So we have to depend on the concerned ministry for development funds. But, files in the ministry do not move at the desired pace."

About teachers involvement elsewhere, he says, "As the teachers do not get adequate salaries, they engage themselves in other works. But, when there is any allegation of negligence in the classroom, an inquiry committee is formed and action is taken accordingly."

Developing small scale water projects

Md. Abdul Gafur

Water is essential for living and development. Getting fresh and sufficient water is a basic human right. Specially in the under developing countries water has an important role in economic development. So, in these countries water management gets high priority. Three fourth of the world is water and only one fourth is land. Though the world is a huge source of water, but usable water is not unlimited. 95.5% of total water in the world is sea water and it is salted. 3.74% is in the form of ice and snow. The rest only .76% water is usable which is found in the rivers, canals, ponds, in vapor and in underground.

Economy of Bangladesh is basically agro based. Water is treated here as the second name of life. For development, water is the most important resource for this country. By managing water in a planned way we can face flood, drought, river erosion, water congestion, silting of river bed, salty land problem etc. Thus water management can play an important role in development of agriculture, self sufficiency in food, poverty alleviation, upgrading of living standard etc.

History of water management in this country is history of hundred of years. Once overflow water was diverted in the irrigation canal in a planned way and Panchayet (village committee) ensured supply of water for irrigation in each land. After 1213, in Sultani period Tank irrigation system was introduced. It is Sultan Nasiruddin Mahmood Shah who first introduced Flood control and Irrigation policy in this county. At that time water was conserved in the ponds to use in the dry season for irrigation. In Mughal period there was separate department for water management. At that time it was responsibility of local landlords (Jamindars) to dig canals, dredge river, construct roads etc. But in British period water management was less emphasised. They emphasised on trade and commerce.

In each wet season flood water enters into the fields and within two months it goes out. If the flow of this water is controlled fish culture and agriculture is possible in a integrated way. By digging canals, constructing sluice gates on the opening of canals and by constructing embankments flow of the water can be controlled. First of all, farmers of a limited area (project area) have to be organised for a small scale water resource development project to flood control, drainage, irrigation and fishery. Success of small water management system fully depends on the success of the cooperative system. So, motivational work is strongly required to grow awareness among the farmers and leadership must required from the grassroot level.

Though huge amount expensed in large scale water management projects, unfortunately people of this country did not get good effect up to a considerable extent from most of these projects. But for flood control, drainage and irrigation (FCDI) small scale water resource management shows us light of hope like a beacon. Local Government authority implemented FCDI projects having covered area of 1000 hectors or less.

For small scale water resource development project local people identify potential scheme and they submitted their proposal through LGED (Local Government Engineering Division) of Government of Bangladesh. Three major steps are followed for selection of Sub projects of Small scale water resource development projects and the steps are a) Pre-feasibility and Reconnaissance, b) Participatory Rapid Rural Appraisal (PRRA) and c) Feasibility or Appraisal. In all these stages there is participation of local people. Even before finalisation of design for the sub-project, the implementer arrange meeting with local people and their opinion is considered. If the sub-project can not qualify in any stage of the above mentioned three stages it is not considered for implementation. LGED analyse social and environmental acceptability and at the same time technical and economical feasibility of the sub-project. It is learnt from LGED that Small Scale Water Resources Development Sector Project (SSWRDSP) of LGED already completed 280 sub-projects covering 165,000 hectors of cultivated land and the number of benefited farm families are 142,000 .

The ultimate goal of these sub-projects are to support local people in poverty alleviation and increasing sustainable agricultural and fisheries production. Objective of this kind of project is to save agricultural sector by controlling flood and retaining water in the project area for fisheries and irrigation in the dry season. Embankment and sluice gates are rehabilitated and constructed to control the flow of water and to develop communication system (both road transportation and navigation system). To increase the capacity of drainage system it re-excavate drainage.

Small scale water resource development sub-projects of LGED have participatory irrigation management. Operation and maintenance of the sub-project is adopted upon the Water Management Cooperative Association (WMCA) committee. WMCA has to be registered with Department of Cooperative and members of WMCA are marginal, small, medium and large farmers.

Landless women and fishermen are also members of the committee. Female membership in the committee is compulsory. WMCA have to share the cost of the sub-project and it is 3% of total cost of construction work and 1.5% of earth work. WMCA has to submit the cost share amount before placement of fund by LGED. WMCA creates fund from its members for operation and maintenance work. Every year before and after wet season project area is inspected jointly by WMCA committee members and LGED engineer. The normal maintenance work is done by the WMCA and if there is major maintenance work it is done by LGED.

LGED implements the sub-project through Project Management Office. Department of Agriculture Extension, Department of Fisheries, Department of Women conduct training and extension services. Department of Environment monitor the environmental impact of the project.

Though donor authority and LGED guidelines emphasised on participation of local people, but it was found in different cases actual participation of local people is sometimes very low. In such cases there is chance that entrepreneurs may use the project for their personal interest. WMCA has to submit cost share amount before placement of fund by LGED. But sometimes people do not show any interest to pay the cost sharing money before implementation of the project. At that time the entrepreneur has to submit the amount from his pocket. Sometimes the entrepreneur recovers the money by paying LCS worker less. LCS workers are destitute women and they do the earth work of the project. They are paid only Tk. 55 per day and from this amount Tk 10 they have to save per day which is refundable at the time of end of the contract.

Farmers can implement small scale water resource development projects from their own source. It takes long time to LGED's initiatives and to collect fund from donor countries for the project. Farmers can grow up cooperative and they can lease the canals, ditches inside the project area even the field in the wet season for a certain period for fishing. Fishery is a profitable source of income. So interested people may come forward to take the lease and implement the project.

On the other hand, share of the project may be sold among the farmers and to other interested people. Planning and designing should be done by LGED and a tripartite agreement will be required among the cooperative, implementer and local government authority.

Development of rural infrastructure depends on proper use of water. In this country everywhere there is water. We have to make water as an important natural resource. We have to divert water from a curse to blessing by managing it successfully. We have no ability to implement expensive projects. But small scale water resource development is possible. Here participation of local people is very important. So more carefulness is required to determine the participation of local people. For growing interest among the stakeholders for the sub-project dependency on entrepreneur is not always right. Department of Cooperative should have more close supervision on the activity of WMCA. WMCA committee should be elected, limited number of member should be included in WMCA from the people who have no land inside the project but live adjacent to the project area. This will ensure participation in a greater extent and impact of the project to the people who are not in the project will be positive.

Per head land in Bangladesh is only 26 decimal. In comparison with other countries it is very low. Though China is a highly populated country but per head land in China is 200 decimal. So we have to find out multipurpose use of our land. Integrating rice field and fisheries may be introduced as multipurpose economic development project. Success in small scale water resource development can change the total picture of Bangladesh.

(The writer is ex-local Consultant (Sociologist), IBIC Pilot Study for Small scale Rural Infrastructure Project)