Efforts ramped up to fulfil polls pledges

The BNP-led government has rolled out a series of initiatives during its first five months in office to fulfil its election pledges, covering public welfare, the economy, education, healthcare, agriculture, infrastructure and foreign policy.

Highlighting the government's activities and achievements at a press conference at the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) in Tejgaon on Saturday, Prime Minister's Office Spokesperson and Adviser Mahdi Amin said the administration had taken a number of prompt measures across key sectors since assuming office.

Among the immediate steps, he said, the verdict in the rape and murder case of child Ramisa was delivered within 19 days, while the verdict in a child rape case in Meherpur came within 29 working days. He also noted that 10 verdicts under the Prevention of Violence against Women and Children Act were delivered within a month.

Mahdi Amin said Muzaffar Hossain, a fugitive accused in the murder case of martyred President Ziaur Rahman, was arrested after 45 years. He also highlighted the passage of the July Fighters' Immunity Act and the Anti-Terrorism (Amendment) Bill in parliament.

The government has also taken initiatives to introduce Family Cards for women, Farmer Cards for farmers, Sports Cards for athletes and Expatriate Cards for expatriates, with plans to introduce a comprehensive Universal Card in the future.
He said initiatives had also been taken to provide rice at Tk 15 per kg to 5.5 million families and introduce monthly allowances for imams, muezzins and followers of different religions.

The government has also decided to waive agricultural loans of up to Tk 10,000, including interest, for 1.2 million small farmers. Besides, initiatives have been taken to provide easy-term loans to women and young entrepreneurs, issue state IDs to 200,000 freelancers, establish an Employment Exchange, and set up 2,000 mini cold storages.

In the education sector, Mahdi Amin said the government has taken initiatives to provide free education for female students up to honours level, introduce smart classrooms, free Wi-Fi, mid-day meals and new textbooks. Plans also include education loans of up to Tk 10 lakh for higher studies abroad and the creation of a Tk 500 crore start-up fund.

In the health sector, the government has initiated plans to recruit 100,000 health workers, provide free dengue tests at government hospitals, convert 200 government buildings into medical centres, upgrade upazila hospitals and establish union-level health units.

Highlighting economic indicators, he said inflation had fallen to 9.16 per cent, while foreign exchange reserves had risen to around Tk 4.46 lakh crore (US$36.58 billion). Remittances reached around Tk 45,750 crore (US$3.75 billion) in March, while exports totalled around Tk 2.45 lakh crore (US$20.05 billion) between February and June. The government has also created a Tk 40,000 crore fund for bank recapitalisation and taken initiatives to reopen closed industries.

The government has also launched a programme to plant 250 million trees over five years, introduced 250 electric buses in Dhaka, initiated the use of artificial intelligence for traffic management and decided to relocate four inter-district bus terminals outside the capital.

Plans are also underway to generate 5,000 megawatts of rooftop solar power within five years and implement a waste-to-energy project in Aminbazar.

On foreign policy, Mahdi Amin said the government is pursuing the principle of "Bangladesh First". He highlighted the signing of 17 memorandums of understanding (MoUs) with China, investment proposals worth US$9.21 billion, the reopening of the Malaysian labour market, efforts to expand labour markets in the Middle East, progress on the Teesta Master Plan, and the resumption of Indian visa services as among the government's notable achievements during its first five months in office.