BNP Chairman Tarique Rahman on Saturday said law and order and corruption would be the two top priorities if his party forms the next government, saying that addressing these issues would help solve many other national challenges.
“Our first priority is to ensure law and order. People have said it, and you have said it too that everyone must feel safe on the streets. We have to make sure of that,” he said while interacting with the winners of a national reel-making competition titled ‘Amar Bhabnay Bangladesh’.
The BNP chairman said corruption must also be addressed in every possible way.
“There are different types of corruption at different levels. We have to deal with it in whatever form it exists. If we can properly address these two issues (law and order and corruption) many other problems will be solved to a large extent. This is my plan,” he said.
The interaction was held at an open space in Justice Shahabuddin Ahmed Park in the capital’s Gulshan area.
Tarique Rahman spoke with 10 winners of the national reel-making competition. His daughter, Barrister Zaima Rahman, was also present at the event.
During the session, the winners asked him various questions, and he responded in an open and friendly manner.
On the issue of BNP’s proposed Family Card, Tarique Rahman said the support would be universal, rather than limited to narrow categories.
Replying to a question, he said single mothers, including women whose husbands had left them or widows, will be brought under the proposed Family Card facility.
The BNP chief said the government currently runs around 138 social safety net programmes under different ministries and departments, but these are poorly coordinated, leading to misuse of resources.
As a result, he said, some people receive support from multiple schemes, while others receive nothing at all.
Tarique said his party wants to organise the welfare system through a family-based approach and make the Family Card universal, covering wives of farmers, van pullers and office workers.
He also said the system will be designed to keep benefit levels reasonable and reduce corruption as much as possible.
