New salary structure, service age for researchers on cards

17 June 2010, 18:00 PM

Bss, Dhaka

Agriculture Minister Begum Matia Chowdhury yesterday said the government will consider a new salary structure and service age for the researchers aiming at encouraging them to pursue research work. She said this at a press conference at the conference room of the ministry on the occasion of innovation of draft genome sequence of jute here in the morning. The government would also revise the retirement age of the scientists and research personnel compared to other public service holders and initiatives in this regard has already been taken, she added. Besides, the research outcome would also usher in a great benefit for the farmers within a couple of years as the research will bring high yield, saline tolerant and pathogen resistant jute within the reach of the farmers, Matia said. Briefing the journalists, Matia said the government led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina would not hesitate to provide necessary fund to complete the research. She said the government is encouraging research but discourages the economy of wastage. Criticising the role of the previous government in research, she said the previous government did not take any initiative to encourage agricultural research, rather they demoralised the scientists as a whole. Terming the successes of research in jute sector, Matia said, "I hope that the completion of the genome sequence research in jute sector is a major breakthrough and the farmers would get the full benefit of it." Besides, the minister highlighted that the new research would turn the country's jute-yarn based textile industry into profit making industries in future. Researchers from Dhaka University (DU), Bangladesh Jute Research Institute (BJRI) and software company dataSoft in collaboration with Centre for Chemical Biology, University of Science, Malaysia and University of Hawaii, decoded the genome.