Prime Minister and BNP chairman Tarique Rahman has announced that every upazila health complex in the country will be upgraded from 50 to 150 beds. Upazila health complexes will be made self-sufficient in necessary treatment and facilities so that village people do not have to go to towns for treatment, he said.
He made the announcement on Thursday afternoon (October 1) while speaking at the inauguration of the Muhuri-Kahua flood control and irrigation rehabilitation project on the bank of the Muhuri river beside the Subar Bazar road in Parshuram upazila, Feni.
Responding to a demand from Feni-1 MP Munshi Rafiqul Alam Majnu, the prime minister said not only would Parshuram upazila health complex be upgraded to 100 beds, but every upazila health complex in the country would be upgraded to 150 beds.
The work will be completed within the next five years, he said.
Earlier, the prime minister unveiled the plaque for the project, inaugurated river dredging work and took part in tree planting beside the Ghatghar Jame Mosque.
In his speech, Tarique Rahman said the people had given the BNP responsibility for running the country in the February 12 election. He alleged that people had been oppressed for 17 years and that attempts had been made to destroy the country’s stability, and said factory closures had damaged the economy in the past. With the people’s support, the BNP will work to turn the country into a developed nation, he said, also highlighting family cards, farmer cards and the river and canal dredging programme.
Family cards are intended to make women in each household financially self-reliant, which benefits the whole family, he said. Government support will likewise go directly to small, marginal and medium farmers, with no middlemen.
Recalling floods in Fulgazi and Parshuram a few years ago, when homes were submerged and water flowed over bridges, he said that experience must not be forgotten. The BNP had promised river and canal dredging before the election, and this programme is part of that pledge, he said.
The event was chaired by Water Resources Minister Shahiduddin Chowdhury Anee and moderated by BNP national executive committee member Abu Taleb. Forest and Environment Minister Abdul Awal Mintoo, Public Works Minister Zakaria Taher Sumon, State Minister for Water Resources Farhad Hossain Azad, MP Munshi Rafiqul Alam Majnu and Parshuram upazila BNP convener Abdul Halim Manik also spoke.
The programme drew large crowds in Parshuram. Despite heavy rain, people gathered outside the pandal along the Muhuri riverbank, near the model school and on the Omri bridge. From Parshuram the prime minister left for Fulgazi, where his programme included work under the Muhuri-Kahua project, family card and farmer card activities, and allowances for imams, muezzins and priests, according to sources. Extensive local preparations were made for his visit.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report