Braving the rogue coronavirus pandemic, natural calamities and conspiracies, the Awami League today (Thursday) fulfils two years of its forming the government for a record third straight term continuing implementation of the development work and financial activities as well.
The government is successfully battling the coronavirus while keeping development work running simultaneously. The first coronavirus infection was detected in the country on March 8, 2020.
The government implemented all the plans to deal squarely with it. In addition to dole out food to the affected families during the lockdown, cash grant of Tk 2,500 each was provided to five lakh families.
The influential US news agency Bloomberg has in its recent report included Bangladesh in the list of top 20 safe- living countries with socio-economic development and a tolerant environment created for people by taming the deadly disease Covid-19. The allocation of the government for the purchase of coronavirus vaccine has been increased to more than Tk 6786 crore.
Profuse incentives have been given to garments sector and investment in health sector has increased enormously for recruitment of physicians and nurses. The government has approved the use of vaccine as preventive to corona infection and signed an agreement to receive the vaccine.
In the first instalment Tk 120,000 crore, another Tk 7,000 crore in the second instalment the government announced an incentive package to protect the people of the country from coronavirus.
Occasionally there has been a slight rise in commodity prices, but immediate measures are being taken by the government to keep the market stable.
The government has cracked down on corruption in the health and other sectors, party and government action has been taken against the party's representatives who have committed irregularities in government grants.
Fighting all the odds, the government, despite the prevailing situation of Coronavirus, completed the installation of all spans of the Padma Bridge. With this, the government showed the world how it can do an impossible task possible with self-financing.
The eviction and demolition of the illegal structures continued. The city- dwellers got relief with the eviction of illegal structures along the riverbank, the revival of canals in the capital.
New books have reached the hands of students at the beginning of the year. The government aims to achieve 100 percent electrification by 2021. The government is also providing house to homeless people.
There have been some disruptions in the overall development work during the coronavirus. Development work stumbled from March to May in the country. Even then, visible progress is being made in the construction of Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant, Bay Terminal. Work is underway to establish 100 economic zones across the country.
Work on the rail link project on the Padma Bridge has progressed by 28 percent. Similarly, the work of Metrorail Line-6 is going on. The first phase of the project will be completed from Diabari to Agargaon by December next year.
Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) work has also gained momentum. The Dhaka-Mawa-Bhanga Expressway has already been opened to traffic. The main part of the 55-kilometer expressway opened in March. In the second part of the project, the work of 3 km from Teghariya to Babubazar Bridge is nearing completion.
On the other hand, the Bangabandhu Tunnel of about 4 km is being constructed under the Karnafuli river in Chattogram to open a new horizon of communications. Not only that, the construction of the third terminal at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport is also going on in full swing.
During the stagnant situation, information technology has helped the country's people to continue office work, attending the meeting, online learning, online purchasing, and many more.
The government has been adopting and implementing various policies and strategies in the light of the directives of the Prime Minister's ICT Adviser Sajeeb Wazed Joy to convert various services online during the pandemic.
Expatriate Bangladeshis have set a record by sending remittances even during the pandemic. In the five months of the current financial year (July-November), remittances to the country reached US$ 1,904.4 million (Tk. 92,486 crores in Bangladeshi currency). In a press release on December 30, the finance ministry said foreign exchange reserves had exceeded US$ 43 billion. At present, the foreign exchange reserves are US$43.17 billion.
Bangladesh excels in Asia in GDP growth. In its report to the World Economic Outlook, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said that Bangladesh is ahead of India and other Asian countries in GDP growth, which is a matter of happiness and pride for the nation. Apart from that, according to the Center for Economics and Business Research, a British economic research organization, Bangladesh is currently the 41st largest economy in the world.
Myanmar government forced huge Rohingyas to take refuge in Bangladesh on August 2017. The government of Bangladesh gave shelter to the displaced and oppressed Rohingyas in Cox's Bazar and Ukhia with the highest example of humanity, which garnered unprecedented acclaim in the international arena.
Despite repeated negotiations and repatriation agreements, not a single rohingya has been able to return to Myanmar in three years due to various regional and international geopolitical crisis.
On the other hand, the international organizations have repeatedly questioned the process of taking the Rohingyas to Bhasanchar by ensuring all the facilities including food, accommodation, security, and employment. Analysts see the whole issue as a major achievement of the government as the Rohingyas have agreed to go to Bhasanchar after overcoming all obstacles.
