Mahdi Amin, spokesperson of the prime minister’s office and adviser to the prime minister, said the present government has become a symbol of public confidence in the six months of taking office.
He said the government is working to fulfill the promise of the election manifesto by ensuring accountability, transparency and accountability.
He was speaking at a press conference marking the 180th anniversary of the government’s takeover of the government at the Prime Minister’s Office in the capital’s Tejgaon on Monday (August 17th).
Highlighting the government’s various initiatives, reforms and future plans for the last six months, Mahdi Amin said the people have got the opportunity to exercise their right to vote through the 13th parliamentary elections. He said the government is working on the aspirations of the mass uprising in July.
He said that in the first session of the parliament, hundreds of ordinances were made into law. Institutional action has been taken against the banned political organisation through the amended ordinance against terrorism. He said there had been no political harassment in the last six months and freedom of speech had been ensured.
Economy and Agriculture:
Mahdi Amin said the government’s first cabinet meeting took the decision to waive the loan with interest of the farmers up to Rs 10 thousand. Thirteen lakh farmers have benefited from this, he said. He also mentioned the introduction of expatriate cards for farmers, women’s family cards and expatriate cards for expatriates. During Ramadan, he also mentioned the initiative to reduce VAT-tax on more than sixty products to control the price of commodities.
Energy sector:
The prime minister’s adviser said discussions were underway with various companies in the United States, China and Malaysia to tackle the gas and power crisis. He said progress has been made to resolve the gas crisis through the Malaysian state-run company Petronas.
Health and Education:
He said that the work has been started to upgrade each upazila health complex to 151 beds. He also highlighted the plan of recruiting one lakh health workers and initiatives to help people with one lakh rupees of the disease.
Talking about the plan to add new subjects to the fourth and sixth grades from next year in the education sector, he said the process of giving free Wi-Fi, school clothes and bags has started in different educational institutions. He also stressed the need to ensure that girls are paid free of paid education.
Law and order:
Mahdi Amin claimed that progress has been made in building a political harassment-free police and administration. He said progress has been made in the investigation of some of the murders. He said the government has appealed to the neighbouring country to bring back former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, who was convicted of crimes against humanity.
Foreign Policy:
Mahdi Amin said the policy of ‘Bangladesh first’ has brought an end to the policy. He said that relations with different countries of the world are based on equality, fairness and dignity.
Referring to the activities of Prime Minister Tarique Rahman, Mahdi Amin said the head of the government is going out of the VIP culture to the common people and taking part in various activities at the grassroots level.
The press conference also highlighted the government’s mega projects, taking eco-friendly projects, opening of closed factories, keeping ports active for 24 hours and increasing remittances.