Farmer Service Centre eludes great goal of farming upgrade countrywide

A government pilot project eludes its ideal objective of farming upgrade in Bangladesh as massive anomalies and shoddy works in its execution have officially been detected. 

The Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) set up farmer service centre under a pilot project where technical equipment and machinery are all found missing and the quality of construction works compromised, officials have said.

Also found out that authorities concerned have taken five years instead of fixed two years to set up 24 Union Parishad Farmer Service Centre across the country by revising the pilot project twice and extending the time and cost by 120 per cent and 28 per cent respectively, an IMED evaluation report reveals.

The Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division (IMED) under the Planning Commission has detected such anomalies along with some other transgressions in the LGED's 'Setting up of Union Parishad farmer service centre and technology extension project'.

The LGED, on behalf of the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE), has already spent Tk 3.50 million from the project fund aimed at monitoring and evaluation of the works during the execution period.

As reported, the Division has spent Tk 9.6 million for inaugurating the 24 buildings of the UP Farmer Service Centres.

The Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) took up the project on a pilot basis in July 2016 and assigned LGED to complete it by June 2018 in a bid to facilitate the farmers in crop production-a vital sector of the national economy. However, the pilot project was revised twice.

"In addition, the LGED has not punished the contractors who failed to complete construction works, rather offered time extensions and not claimed the LD (liquidity damage) for their failures," the report reads.

Liquidity damage is a fund which is claimed by the procuring entity for the failure of the contractors against any faulty works or delays or damages.

The anomalies have been mentioned by the IMED in its impact-evaluation report of the completed 'Setting up of farmer service centre and technology extension project at union level (pilot)', executed by the LGED at a cost of Tk 438.60 million.

The ousted Sheikh Hasina government took up the project for setting up the 24 farmer service centres, including two in her paternal home district of Goplaganj, and 22 others in 22 districts across the country.

The project-evaluation team had not found the technical equipment like computes, lab equipment, firefighting equipment, and farming machinery at the centres, which resulted in the waste of Tk 4.568 million, the IMED report has quoted government audit report as saying.

And the authorities have not kept record of the procured machinery, computer equipment, and lab equipment for the many of the farmer service centres, it mentions.

"The project, intended to bolster agricultural support, has instead become a case study in mismanagement," the IMED report says.

Technical machinery and equipment that were supposed to be installed are not present at the site despite the project being officially concluded in June 2021, the evaluation team said.

Officials have labeled the construction as "shoddy", indicating that the physical infrastructure does not meet requisite standards and compromised the quality a lot.

Despite clear failures and delays, the LGED has not penalized the responsible contractors rather pays back the LD.

"The department has failed to claim liquidity damage from contractors for their faulty work and inordinate delays," the IMED report says.

Rather than holding the contractors to account for these discrepancies, the LGED has reportedly offered time extensions. This lenient approach has raised questions among officials regarding the lack of disciplinary action for blatant project mismanagement.

Citing example of the Farmer Service Centres in Rajnagar, Namlobamar; Parshyanga, Chatkamahar, Choorabargacha, Nilphamari, Sapagala, Kalamakanda and Sapral Damkshan, the IMED team has said there were not proper management, maintenance and operation of the agricultural machinery and equipment.

In this regard, about 25 per cent of the supplied machinery to the farmers is damaged due to the absence of proper maintenance.