By NNN-BSS,
Rangpur, Bangladesh : Announcing a massive development plan for Rangpur division, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said here on Saturday that her government is implementing its election pledges one after another.
“Rangpur will be built as a planned city as I myself have taken responsibility for the development of the newly-established division,” she said while addressing a mammoth rally at the Zilla School Ground in the city.
Amid thunderous clapping and slogan of the cheerful people, the Prime Minister said the Rangpur Pourasabha will be turned into a city corporation side by side with introducing metropolitan police.
Besides, she said, a modern stadium with swimming pool will be constructed, while burn unit, trauma centre and cardiac centre will be set up at Rangpur Medical College Hospital.
“The present government is implementing its election commitments one after another as our aim is overall development of the country,” she said urging all to supplement the government efforts.
“We want to build a developed and prosperous Bangladesh by 2021,” she added.
Jatiya Party Chairman and former president HM Ershad and Rawshan Ershad, MP, addressed the rally, joined by thousands of people from the city and adjoining areas.
Sheikh Hasina said the dreams of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman were to bring smiles on the faces of the toiling masses. “We are working relentlessly to materialize that dreams and we are also working as servants of
the people, not as rulers,” she said.
Referring to the various steps taken by her government for the development of the country, the Prime Minister said, “We have eliminated monga (a seasonal famine) for ever from Rangpur by creating massive employment.
A huge number of the people of the country have been brought under social safety net through increasing number of beneficiaries of old-age allowance and widow allowance, she said.
Due to the pragmatic steps of the present government, she said, farmers can open bank account spending only Taka 10.
Education up to secondary level has already been made free, while education up to degree level will be free in future, she said.
The Prime Minister said her government has taken effective steps for raising power generation in the country. “The government has taken up short, mid and long-term plans to solve nagging power crisis in the country and as part of the plans 1,100 MW electricity was added to the national grid in the last two years,” she said.
In this regard, the Prime Minister mentioned that the country’s power sector was ruined due to unbridled corruption and plundering of the four-party alliance government. “They could not produce a single megawatt electricity during their five-year rule,” she said.
Regarding demand of gas supply to Rangpur, Sheikh Hasina said her government is trying to discover new gas fields in the country to remove gas shortage.
After availability of adequate gas, she said, Rangpur will be brought under the gas network so that a huge number of mills and factories are established in the area.
The Rangpur Zilla School Ground turned into a human sea as thousands of jubilant people from the city and its adjoining areas joined the rally carrying colorful banners and festoons and beating drums. Many people listened to the speech of the Prime Minister climbing on the trees and high-rise buildings in the surrounding areas.
Earlier, the Prime Minister inaugurated the permanent campus of Begum Rokeya University, Rangpur, regional office building of Bangladesh Bank and new building of Rangpur district collectorate
by unveiling the plaques. She also planted a sapling on the premises of regional office of the Bangladesh Bank.