The Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation (BA DC) will dispose of all its ir rigation equipment through open auction

The equipment worth over 200 crore taka. now stored In the BADC's godowns all over the country will be sold by the third week of this month. The equipment include deep tube wells. shallow tubewells power pumps, accessories and spares.

The BADC will have to clear the equipment to fulfil the conditions of agreement signed by the government with the World Bank for implementation of the National Minor Irrigation Development Project Under that agreement the BADC was scheduled to clear the stork by March 31 1992 but the time was later extended

l here were several eltorts by the authorities to sell the equipment through tenders which failed to attract good number of buyers Moreover prices quoted by the intending buyers were not reasonable at all said the sources concerned, adding that according to the previous schedule the BADC will now have to go for auction

With the sale pf the equip ment. the BADC will virtually cease tts activities in the field of irrigattoo wtuch the corporation had been doing for about 32 years

Meanwhile the government has decided to downsize the BADC by restructuring its ac tiviues and reducing the exist uig manpower A four member filter-ministerial committee was formed by the tfrvrrnmtnt in

October to work out the proee- ■ dure of reorganising the corporation The committee is expected to submit its report at the end of this month

Hie reoganisatton process of BADC is based on the recommendations made by a govern ment-appointed committee headed by Dr Iqbal Mahmud, which submitted its report in March last year Sources said that the recommendations sug gested specifk core functions of the BADC that include irriga tion service upto a certain extent for promotional purpose However, the proposal of the Agriculture Ministry put for ward to the Cabinet excluded Irrigation aspect from future a< liviUes of the corporation they said