The National e-Content Repository would play a significant role in empowering the rural people and socio-economic development as it would make access to information much easier, said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday.
"People will get information on education, agriculture, health, law, human rights and citizen service from anywhere including the 4,501 union parishad information and service centres across the country through the repository," she said while inaugurating the e-content at her office.
"There is no need to go to district or upazilas for information by spending money and time now."
The Access to Information (A2I) programme, funded by UNDP, organised the inaugural ceremony with the prime ministers' Principal Secretary Md Abdul Karim in the chair.
A total of 148 government organisations and 50 local and foreign non-government organisations have provided information to this online store -- www.infokosh.bangladesh.gov.bd.
Hasina said contents have been incorporated in written, audio, video, animation formats in the repository so that the people understand them easily and make their proper use.
Moreover, she asked all the mobile phone operators in the country to prepare content in Bangla.
The premier also instructed all the officials concerned of the state run BTV and Betar to give people an extensive idea about the use of the e-Content Repository.
Hasina said her government is relentlessly working to resolve electricity crisis as soon as possible to implement the vision of 'Digital Bangladesh'.
"We have already added 1150 MW of electricity to the national grid," she said.
Addressing the programme as special guest, Agriculture Minister Matia Chowdhury said agricultural production will be boosted up through dissemination of agricultural information from the website.
A2I's National Project Director Nazrul Islam Khan said in his welcome speech that the e-Content repository contains 50,000 pages of information which is expected to be increased to 50 lakh pages by next two years.
UNDP Resident Coordinator in Dhaka Stefan Priesner and Action Aid Country Director Farah Kabir also spoke at the programme.