For the first time, the Agriculture Ministry gave away its ‘Agriculturally Important Person (AIP)’ awards to 13 individuals at a programme held at the Osmani Memorial Auditorium here on Wednesday.

Agriculture Minister Muhammad Abdur Razzaque handed over the awards as chief guest.

The minister said that the AIP award is a great effort to honor the people who are the driving forces behind the agricultural revolution that’s happening in the country.

“We want to make agriculture both a commercial and an honorable profession in the coming days. We want that more and more educated people will take part in agriculture. The AIP award will help us reach these goals,” Razzaque said.

The government drafted the AIP policy in 2019 to acknowledge the efforts of the farmers, the scientists, and the entrepreneurs and encourage them to continue contributing to the country’s agricultural sector.

The AIP award for the year 2020 was handed over today. The AIP-achievers will receive perks enjoyed by the Commercially Important Persons (CIPs’).

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Nurunnahar Begum, an AIP award recipient, said that she had never thought of receiving an award for doing agriculture.

“I don’t want anyone to give me money for doing farming. But receiving an award is a different thing altogether. Such recognition makes our hard work count. I wholeheartedly thank the prime minister for such an initiative,” said Nurunnahar.

Md Shamsuddin Kalu, another recipient of the award, said that one of his friends who hailed from a reputed family didn’t join him in his fish business fearing the loss of honor.

“An uneducated, simple man like me receiving such an award shows that doing agriculture is a dignified profession. This award will inspire other people like me to value agriculture and take it up as a profession,” Kalu said.

The award-giving ceremony was presided over by Agriculture Secretary Md Sayedul Islam. Habibun Nahar, Deputy Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, spoke at the event as special guest while Wahida Akter, Additional Secretary of Agriculture Ministry, gave the welcome speech.