Staff Reporter<:/strong>
Prime Minister Tarique Rahman yesterday said that the government has taken necessary steps to formu-late and implement action plans based on a 180-day program to implement the commitments made in the election manifesto.
“In line with the election manifesto, several important programs have already been taken up on a priority basis and significant progress has been achieved in implementing those,” he said in reply to a starred question from treasury bench member from Pabna-5 Md Shamsur Rahman Simul Biswasin in the Jatiya Sangsad (JS) with Speaker Hafiz Uddin Ahmad, Bir Bikram, in the chair.
Tarique Rahman, also ruling BNP chairman, said his government has initiated the ‘Family Card’ pro-gram, considering the family as the core unit of development.
The program has been launched with providing Taka 2,500 per month through ‘Family Card’ to the fe-male heads of 37,814 families in 13 districts and three city corporations primarily to give protection to marginalized and low-income families, he added.
The Prime Minister also said the ‘Farmer Card’ program was launched on April 14 aimed at ensuring agricultural development and providing benefits to farmers such as subsidized agricultural inputs, irriga-tion facilities, and easy access to agricultural loans and machinery.
In the pre-pilot phase, he said, the program is being implemented in 11 agricultural blocks across 11 upazilas in 10 districts.
Additionally, as per the ruling BNP’s election pledge, Tarique Rahman said agricultural loans up to Taka 10,000 in crops, livestock, and fisheries sectors have been waived.
To this end, he said, the government has already allocated a budget of Taka 1,567.96 crore, benefiting about 13 lakh 17 thousand 500 farmers across the country.
The Prime Minister said under the 180-day priority program of the Ministry of Religious Affairs, hono-rarium and festival allowances have already been sent to the bank accounts of 9,102 people working in mosques, temples, Buddhist monasteries/pagodas and churches under a pilot scheme.
The process of expanding the program is underway, he added.
Tarique Rahman also mentioned that an initiative has been taken to introduce ‘e-Health Cards’, and a pro-ject is awaiting approval to this end.
Under the project, providing medical services through the e-health card to the people of five districts- Khulna, Noakhali, Bogra, Sirajganj and Narsingdi- will be launched within 180 days, he said.
About the canal excavation program, the Prime Minister said, the canal excavation/re-excavation pro-gram under the government’s 180-day plans started on March 16.
Until June this year, the Ministry of Water Resources, Local Government Department and Ministry of Agriculture will excavate/re-excavate 1,204 kilometers of canals, he said.
Besides, the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief will re-excavate/renovate 1,500 kilometers of canals through Kabikha (food for work), Kabita (money for work) and TR (Test Relief) during this pe-riod, the premier added.
“Our plan is to excavate and re-excavate a total of 20,000 kilometers of canals and rivers in the next 5 years,” PM said.
About the IT sector, Tarique Rahman said a committee has been formed to effectively operate the Hi-Tech/Software Parks and ICT Centers and to take effective initiatives to start PayPal’s operations in Bangladesh.
In line with BNP’s election pledge, he said sports allowance has been introduced for national athletes under the salary structure.
Regarding employment, Tarique Rahman said the government has decided to recruit five lakh govern-ment employees, out of which the process of recruiting 2,879 people against vacant posts in the Ministry of Public Administration and subordinate offices and organizations is underway.
