JS budget session ends passing 10 bills

The second session of the 13th National Parliament and the first budget session of the current government ended on Wednesday after 26 working days. During the session, Parliament passed 10 government bills.

According to the Parliament Secretariat, the budget session began on June 7. The general discussion on the national budget continued for 14 working days and lasted a total of 48 hours and 51 minutes. A total of 316 Members of Parliament took part in the discussion.

The Secretariat said 715 notices were submitted under Rule 71 of the Rules of Procedure. Of these, 24 were accepted and 22 were discussed. Another 125 two-minute notices were discussed under Rule 71(A). Parliament also discussed and disposed of four resolutions under Rule 131.

During the session, 278 questions were submitted for the Prime Minister, and replies to 35 questions were placed on the table. Ministers of different ministries received 5,031 questions, of which 3,474 were answered.

Parliament also formed 11 parliamentary committees, including a special committee on constitutional amendments, and reconstituted the Business Advisory Committee.

During the parliamentary question-and-answer session, Railway Minister Sheikh Rabiul Islam said Bangladesh recorded 1,334 railway accidents over the past 15 years. Of these, 1,051 occurred in the eastern zone and 283 in the western zone.

Replying to another question, he said no allegation of corruption had yet been found in the MRT-6 metro rail project. If any allegation is received, immediate action will be taken according to the rules.

He said the project's Development Project Proposal (DPP) had been revised three times. The estimated cost was first set at Tk 21,985.07 crore, later increased to Tk 33,471.99 crore and finally revised to Tk 32,717.73 crore.