Bangladesh govt allots Tk 20 crore to each lawmaker

Lawmakers, except those of the city corporation areas, will get Tk 20 crore each for the development of rural infrastructure in their constituencies. 

A meeting of Ecnec yesterday approved the “Priority Based Important Rural Infrastructure Development Project-2” in this connection.

Lawmakers themselves will not be able to spend the allotted money directly, Planning Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal told reporters after the meeting.

They will send lists of development works intended to be taken up in their constituencies to the LGRD ministry, he said.

Local Government Engineering Department will implement the Tk 6,076-crore project as per the lists, he added.

During the five-year period of the project, a total of 284 lawmakers will get Tk 4 crore each per year.

However, 16 lawmakers in the city corporation areas and women lawmakers in reserved seats will not get any money from the project for now.

A planning ministry statement said a separate project would soon be taken up for the lawmakers of city corporation areas. According to the project proposal, development work will be carried out for 465 km road in upazilas, 1,430 km road in unions, 6,173 km roads in villages, 16,000 metre bridges and culverts, 111 rural markets and 64 river ghats (landing stations).

In 2010, a project of Tk 4,600-crore was taken up for lawmakers for the development of rural infrastructure in their constituencies.  

Chaired by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) meeting also gave nod to another seven projects involving Tk 4,477 crore.

Of these, Tk 1,843-crore has been earmarked to purchase six new vessels for Bangladesh Shipping Corporation.

A planning ministry official said the vessels would be purchased from China and a Tk 1,448-crore loan will be given by the Chinese government.

The Ecnec also approved two projects involving Tk 131-crore for Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB). Under the projects, 60 border outposts will be constructed.

The planning minister told reporters that 667 buildings had already been built in 883 BGB camps along the borders with India and Myanmar.

The meeting gave its nod to another project to modernise the old arsenals of the police force.