Information and Broadcasting Minister and Joint General Secretary of the Awami League Dr. Hasan Mahmud said that the Prime Minister has rightly requested to use electricity economically. This request has been made in the developed countries of the world including France. I would also like to request the critics to motivate the people in this regard.
He made the remarks while exchanging views with reporters at the Secretariat on Thursday.
Calling on critics to look at the world situation, the minister said, “The Covid-19 and Ukraine wars have triggered a global energy crisis and both fuel and its transportation costs have risen abnormally. Millions of families in Australia today have been asked to save electricity. There has been 10 hours of load shedding in some states and 15 to 16 hours in some states of Australia. In Europe, where is no electricity deficit, load shedding is also observing there. Countries like France, a permanent member of the UN Permanent Council, have also been asked to save electricity.”
Dr. Hasan said, “The power sector in our country is mainly dependent on energy. Not all coal-fired power plants are fully operational. That is why the government subsidized Tk 28000 crore in the power sector and Tk 25000 crore in the energy sector last year. Even after that, the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, a developing country, has delivered electricity to every house.”
“Before forming our government, less than 40 percent of the country people had access to electricity. Today, electricity has reached the doorsteps of 100 percent of the people. But even if it reaches the doorstep, the call to use it economically is by no means wrong. That means it’s never advisable to keep the lamp on or the fan on when I'm not in the room,” added Dr. Hasan.
Hasan Mahmud said, “After this call of the Prime Minister, I will request the critics to look back at the BNP. What did they do? Shot and killed people when they demanded electricity.” And those who are proud to introduce themselves as intellectuals, criticize for no reason, your one-time criticism against the Padma Bridge has now become a thorn in your side, so do not criticize unnecessarily in this case, the Broadcasting Minister warned. In response to BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir’s remarks, “There is no benefit in building a thousand Padma bridges, there is no freedom of speech”, the information minister said. And “even if the Padma Bridge is built a thousand times, there will be no profit” - this cannot be the statement of any responsible top politician.
