Bangladesh has emerged as a role model in the global arena by accelerating living standards, education rate, average life expectancy rate and eliminating poverty, says Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
“We are now becoming a rare example in the world,” state news agency BSS quoted her saying in Parliament on Wednesday (Jun 19).
She said her administration is firmly committed to ensure balanced development with reaching civic amenities to each of the villages in line with its election manifesto 2018 by accelerating the pace of village development alongside with the development of the towns, according to the report.
“Bangladesh has achieved a huge success in the socio-economic development for proper implementation of the work plans taken by the Awami League government in the last one decade,” she opined.
The premier said that the living standard of the village people has increased and the tendency of going to town among the people has decreased as employment generation has created in the village and income of the village people has increased.
“We have declared ‘Vision 2021’ to transform Bangladesh into a mid-income state free from hunger and poverty by ensuring balanced and planned development to materialize the unaccomplished tasks of the Father of the Nation,” she said before adding one of the main purposes of the vision was significantly reducing rural poverty.
The prime minister has highlighted various initiatives of her government in different sectors for overall rural development to reach civic amenities to each of the villages with a slogan “My Village, My Town.”
For ensuring primary education in the grassroots, she said, the government had nationalised 26,370 primary schools since 2009.
The government has taken a plan for setting up a community clinic for every 6000 villagers aimed at reaching medical services to the doorsteps, the premier said.
Regarding modernization of the agriculture, she said, the government is now giving up to 50 percent to 70 percent development assistance to the farmers to purchase agricultural equipments alongside with giving 20 percent rebate on the electricity bill in case of use in irrigation.
The government has been arranging uninterrupted power supply during the Boro season, distributing high yielding seeds among the farmers at fair price, distributing fertilizers and seeds among the small and marginal farmers, she also said.
On development of communications network, she said her government has now been creating a ‘village road network’ for extension of civic amenities to each of the villages.
The prime minister said her government is working to reach electricity to each of the people, adding that the power generation has now reached at 21,600 mega watt by increasing the power generation by seven folds in the last 10 years.
The government has set a target of generating 24,000 mw power by 2021 and 60,000 mw by 2041, she informed.
Sheikh Hasina said her government has been implementing National Social Security Strategy, 2015 in line with the principles of ‘leaving no one behind’ and ‘inclusive development’.
The premier said her government is implementing “Amar Bari Amar Khamar” project involving Taka 81,027 crore by which 75,993 village development cooperatives will be formed to facilitate nearly 3.64 million families from 2009 to 2020.