Prime Minister Tareque Rahman has said 4.1 million (41 lakh) mothers across the country will be given family cards this fiscal year, including 10,000 to 12,000 families in Banshkhali upazila.
The prime minister made the remarks on Sunday afternoon while speaking at an event in Banshkhali’s Baharchhara union, where he exchanged views with flood-hit residents and handed keys to new homes to 100 homeless families.
“You elected the government. It is the government’s duty to stand by you. We said that if we could form a government we would arrange family cards, and we did so within a month. This is an initiative to make women self-reliant,” the prime minister said. He said 4.1 million mothers would get the card this fiscal year, and 10,000 to 12,000 families in Banshkhali, with the programme continuing so that women too can support their households and mothers’ hands are strengthened.
Saying farmer cards had also been arranged, the prime minister said Banshkhali’s salt farmers would receive them; a price for salt had been set after discussion, with details to be announced shortly.
Turning to the Matarbari deep-sea port and other mega-projects in Chattogram, the prime minister said the sea was a great asset that could be used to improve people’s lives. Outlining plans to set up industries and create business from Matarbari to Mirsarai, he said land had been given to China in Anwara, where several hundred industries would come up, creating jobs in Chattogram, reducing unemployment and earning foreign currency. Without mills and factories, jobs are not possible, he said, adding that maintaining peace and order is a precondition for industrialisation and for local and foreign investment.
The prime minister announced that Banshkhali’s hospital would be upgraded to 101 beds within the next five years. He also outlined long-term plans for the power and energy sectors, saying the plans for the next 10 years would be presented in parliament, and that rather than spreading misleading information to disturb peace and order, anyone with an alternative plan should put it before the people.
Noting that more than 50 years had passed since independence, Tareque Rahman said it was now time to work for the people and build the country, as many nations that became independent after Bangladesh had moved ahead through hard work. “For the BNP, the people are the source of all power. If the people are with us, every programme can be carried out. We will turn the 400 million hands of 200 million people into working hands and create jobs, so that each person can improve their family’s fortunes through work. That is the Bangladesh we want to build,” he said.
Those present included Finance and Planning Minister Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury; Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed; MPs Enamul Haque (Chattogram-12, Patiya), Abu Sufian (Chattogram-9, Kotwali), Md Jasim Uddin (Chattogram-13, Chandanaish), Sawab Zaman Nizam (Anwara) and Saching Prue Jeri (Bandarban); and local and central BNP leaders.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report