Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed has said the country’s law and order situation has visibly improved over the past six months, or 180 days. He said some more time is needed to further consolidate the situation to meet public expectations.
The home minister made the remarks while briefing reporters Monday afternoon at the Bangladesh Secretariat, following a meeting of the committee formulating recommendations related to the “Bangladesh Judicial Service Pay Commission, 2025” report at the Ministry of Finance.
The minister said whether people are satisfied with law and order is something the public itself will judge. However, he said, the government can say with confidence that visible improvement in the law-and-order situation has been achieved over the past six months. Some time is still needed to further consolidate this in line with public expectations.
The home minister said: “We’ve only just passed six months. Within that time, we’ve carried out extensive reform work, and you’ve seen various commendable initiatives from the law enforcement agencies.” He further said various initiatives and programs undertaken and implemented by the government over the past 180 days have been praised by the public.
The minister further said several commendable initiatives and welfare-oriented programs have been undertaken in the first 180 days, in line with the roadmap announced by the prime minister. He said that since taking office, the government has faced one global and domestic crisis after another, but has handled them with great skill and success.
The minister further said that although the global energy and gas crisis stemming from the Russia-Ukraine war has been felt worldwide, the government did not immediately raise fuel oil prices domestically. To protect farmers’ interests during the boro season, the government kept the price increase suspended for nearly a month before deciding on a manageable adjustment later. During that period, fuel prices had nearly doubled in the global market and in neighboring countries.
Noting that the long-standing gas and energy crisis left behind by the previous government cannot be resolved overnight, the home minister said the current government is working to overcome this crisis through sustainable, long-term planning. He said ensuring a reliable primary energy supply is essential to attracting global investors to Bangladesh and sustaining business expansion and production. To this end, following an inspection of the Matarbari deep-sea port under the prime minister’s leadership, a decision was made to establish a full land-based LNG terminal there.
Salahuddin Ahmed said that, alongside this, given frequent mechanical faults at the existing Summit and Excelerate Energy floating terminals disrupting gas supply, initiatives have been taken to establish multiple additional FSRUs, with survey work currently underway to select their locations. He said new gas exploration activities have begun domestically, both offshore and onshore, to reduce import dependency, which will achieve a sustainable resolution to this problem within the next few years.
Detailing social security and public welfare measures, the minister said the historic decision to waive agricultural loans up to 10,000 taka was approved and implemented at the very first cabinet meeting. Alongside this, the government is distributing family cards and farmer cards. He said monthly honorariums are being provided to religious officials and imams and muezzins across various faiths. Additionally, several welfare-oriented measures have been taken, including granting social and state recognition to the country’s athletes and cultural figures.
As head of the National Procurement Committee for food security, the home minister said the government’s sound policies and timely decisions have made it possible to build a robust and secure food stockpile in the country. He added that a consolidated account of the overall progress achieved by various ministries over the government’s 180 days will soon be formally released to the media by the Prime Minister’s Press Wing or the relevant ministries and departments.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report