Bangabandhu Sheikh Majibur Rahman's dream was of Sonar Bangla, a country self-sufficient in every sector. The present government led by Sheikh Hasina is relentlessly working to establish ‘Digital Bangladesh’ which is the reflection of Bangabandhu’s dream of ‘Sonar Bangla’.
The country is about to touch a new milestone, as the government is relentlessly working to reach broadband internet in every union. In the meantime, the government has successfully connected 2400 unions with high-speed internet connectivity through optical fiber. The rest of the unions will be covered soon.
Dr Bikarna Kumar Ghos, project director of Info-Sarker-Phase 3, came up with this comment while talking to Bangladesh Post in his office recently. Info-Sarker-Phase 3 is an extension of government ICT network to the lowest tier to union from the existing network up to Upazilla (sub-district) through Info-Sarker-2 and BanglaGovNet (Info-Sarker Phase 1) projects.
This project will provide Internet access to 2700 Union Parishads, 488 Upazilla Parishads and 1000 police connectivity under 64 districts all over the country. He said, “Our country is too small, but it has a large number of young people and information technology is the main platform to utilize these young hands of the country. If we can connect with modern technological facilities, they all will become a blessing for the country”.
As all the unions will gradually be brought under the shed of the optical fiber internet connectivity, all government offices are directed to get the connection and stay connected 24 hours with the government's development journey. This will help to progress a step forward towards Digital Bangladesh, he added.
While answering on how the connectivity will serve in the rural areas, Bikarna Kumar replied, “The government is building the infrastructure only, rest of the services and maintenance will be conducted through a private organization. Internet Service Provider (ISP) will act in this regard”.
Implementing such a project will help to bring more people under ICT platforms, especially as per the government move, more women will be trained so that they can work at home and earn through outsourcing.
More employment opportunities will be generated, poverty will be eliminated, and at the same time it will contribute one percent to the country’s GDP, he continued, with this, all government services will be available for every citizen and they will be able to get government service at their doorsteps.
“The completed project impact is beyond our imagination, if we can complete this as per our plan, to some extent, it will help us to pay some of the debt we owe to the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman”, he ended.