The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) on Tuesday approved a total of 11 development projects involving an overall estimated cost of Tk 4,542 crore.
The approval came from a Ecnec meeting presided by Ecnec chair and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina who joined the event from her official residence Ganobhaban through a videoconference.
Other ministers and officials concerned were connected to the meeting from the NEC Conference Room in the city.
Among approved projects, a fresh project titled ‘Her Power Project: Empowering Women with Technology (Phase II)’ was designed to create self-employment opportunities for women and thus ensure their sustainable empowerment as entrepreneurs by enhancing their skills through the best and safest use of information technology.
The ICT Division will implement the project at 130 Upazila in 44 districts under eight divisions at the cost of Tk 250 crore by December 2024.
“Today’s meeting approved six fresh projects and five revised ones. The overall estimated cost of the 11 projects is Tk 4,541.81 crore (only additional costs of the revised projects were counted here),” said Planning Minister MA Mannan at a press briefing.
Among those, four projects are under the LGRD and Cooperatives Ministry, three under the Road Transport and Bridges Ministry, two under the Water Resources Ministry, one each under the ICT Division and the Railways Ministry, he said.
All the projects will be implemented with finance from the government, said the Planning Minister.
In terms of the cost, the biggest fresh project is “Protection of river banks from Kaliganga River Erosion to protect different important areas in Nababganj upazila of Dhaka, Saturia, Ghior, Manikganj Sadar and Singair upazilas of Manikganj” involving Tk 689 crore.
The Water Development Board will execute the project by June 2024.
The four other new projects are “Expansion of Dairy Cooperative Activities in Milk-Deficit Upazilas” with estimated cost of Tk 156.88 crore; “Waterlogging Elimination in Sadar upazila of Narayanganj district” with Tk 149.70 crore; Waste management development of Mymensingh City Corporation and Necessary Equipment and Machineries Supply” with TK 122.13 crore; and “Protection of Morelganj Upazila Sadar and its adjoining areas in Bagerhat district from Panguchi river erosion and Re-excavation Of Bishkhali River” with Tk 658.83 crore;
The five revised projects include “Excavation of canal from Bayaipara of Bahaddarhat to Karnaphuli River (2nd revised)” project (its cost rose to Tk 1,362.62 crore from Tk 1,256.16 crore in the first revision and Tk 326.85 crore in the original layout); “Construction of Broad Gauge Railways between Chilahati and Chilahati Border to Establish Rail Link with India ( 1st revised)” project (the cost increased to Tk 140.69 crore from Tk 80.17 crore) ; “Border Roads (Rangamati, Khagrachhari and Bandarban Hilly Districts) (1st Phase) Construction (1st revised)” project (the cost went up to Tk 3,874.72 crore from Tk 1,699.85 crore).
The rest two revised projects are “Upgradation of District Highways to Appropriate Standards and Widths (Cumilla Zone) (1st revised)” project (the cost stood now at Tk 735.22 crore from Tk 657.31 crore) and “Nabinagar-Shibpur-Radhika Regional Highway Construction and Development (R-203) (1st revised)” project (the cost enhanced to Tk 439.52 crore from Tk 343.60 crore).
Increase own income, PM to city corporations
In the Ecnec meeting, the Prime Minister asked the city corporations to be self-reliant gradually by increasing their own revenue, said the Planning Minister
She stressed the need for paying a special attention to waste management and said effluent treatment plants (ETPs) should be set up so that no water from drains is directly get mixed with rivers.
Hasina also directed the Rural Development and Cooperatives Division to expand dairy cooperatives in the upazilas where milk production is insufficient to meet the growing demand of protein, said Mannan.
No institutional corruption in country: Mannan
Replying to a question, the Planning Minister said corruption might take place at individual level to some extent, but there is no institutional corruption according to his knowledge.
The government is now curbing individual-level corruption, he said.
ADP implementation reaches 45.56pc in 9 months:
The Planning Minister said the implementation rate of Annual Development Programme (ADP) during the first nine months (July-March) of the current fiscal year is 45.56 per cent with an overall expenditure of Tk 98,934.92 crore.
He said the rate is 3.64 per cent higher than the corresponding period of the previous fiscal year ( 2020-21).
The ADP implementation rate was 41.92 per cent with the expenditure of Tk 87,735.51 crore in the same period of 2020-21 fiscal, according to a report of the Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division (IMED).
In March, 2022 alone, the implementation rate was 10.53 per cent, which is 7.23 per cent higher than March, 2021.
The ADP allocation is Tk 217,175.35 crore for the current fiscal year.
Source: United News of Bangladesh