A human chain was held in Thakurgaon demanding the conversion of all grassroots-level, farmer-friendly BADC seed dealers into fertilizer dealers, in accordance with the Consolidated Fertilizer Dealer Policy-2025.
The Thakurgaon District Branch of the BADC Dealers Association organized this hour-long human chain in front of the District Administrator's (Collectorate) complex on Tuesday (October 28) afternoon.
Among those who spoke at the human chain were seed dealer Sultan Mahmud from Haripur upazila and seed dealer Shahin Alam from Baliadangi upazila.
The speakers alleged that to resolve the fertilizer crisis at the grassroots level, the government has decided to appoint three dealers per ward under the new policy. In this case, BADC dealers should be given priority. However, since the policy does not mention any priority for BADC dealers, any fertilizer trader can apply to become a dealer at the ward level. The seed dealers are holding this human chain program in protest of this.
The speakers further said that under the previous policy, BADC seed dealers had the opportunity to convert to fertilizer dealers. But that opportunity has been revoked in the government's newly formulated Consolidated Fertilizer Dealer Policy-2025. This is causing losses to the grassroots-level seed dealers. Therefore, they demanded an amendment to this policy to reinstate the opportunity for BADC seed dealers to convert to fertilizer dealers.
After the hour-long human chain, the organizers submitted a memorandum to the Prime Minister through the District Administrator.
