In the past year, the Interim Government's Housing and Public Works Ministry has abolished discriminatory quotas in plot allocations and ended the provision allowing multiple allocations to members of the same family. The National Housing Authority (NHA) has also cancelled the illegal allocation of 12 luxury flats in Dhanmondi.
According to ministry officials, projects have been launched to build museums, memorials, and housing for families of martyrs of the July Mass Uprising. Special committees and audits are investigating irregularities from 2009 to 2024, and the cancellation of five anti-public-interest projects has saved the government Tk 426 crore.
During this period, 11 Public Works Department officials have been dismissed, and cases are ongoing against 25 others for corruption. To enhance operational capacity, 107 permanent cadre posts and 204 temporary positions for sub-assistant engineers and support staff have been created.
Draft laws for new development authorities in Barishal, Rangpur, and Mymensingh have been completed. Renovations of the seven-storey fire-damaged Secretariat building and other government offices have also been finalised.
Speaking to this correspondent, Public Works Ministry Senior Information Officer Md. Alamgir Hossain said the ministry has taken steps to prevent all forms of irregularities and corruption across its departments and authorities, alongside several additional initiatives.
Steps have been taken to abolish prior-approval requirements for property transfers, and a new transfer and training policy is in its final stage.
The plot allocation regulations of RAJUK and the NHA have been amended to remove special quotas for ministers, MPs, judges, government officials, lawyers, journalists, and other professionals.
The provision allowing multiple members of the same family to receive plots or flats has also been scrapped, aiming to prevent irregularities, corruption, and nepotism.
In compliance with a High Court order, a three-member committee is investigating irregularities in plot, flat, and space allocations by RAJUK from January 2009 to July 2024.
The NHA has annulled the illegal allocation of 12 luxury flats in Dhanmondi Residential Area that had been granted to a former ACC commissioner, former secretaries, a former district judge, and other influential officials.
To establish the July Mass Uprising Memorial Museum, 17.47 acres of land and buildings at the former Ganabhaban Complex in Sher-e-Bangla Nagar have been handed over to the Ministry of Cultural Affairs, with development now underway under the supervision of the Public Works Department and the Department of Architecture.
For permanent housing of martyrs' families from the 2024 Anti-Discrimination Student Movement, the NHA has undertaken the 36 July Residential Flats Project--820 flats in Mirpur and 1,560 flats for families of disabled July Freedom Fighters--pending ECNEC approval.
Nine memorial monuments have been completed--one in Shahbagh, Dhaka, and eight in district towns--while construction continues in 55 other districts. Drafts of the Spatial Planning Ordinance, 2025 and RAJUK Ordinance, 2025 are ready.
