Rehabilitation of 2 lakh returnee migrants: Ecnec approves Tk427 crore  

The government has taken up a project to reintegrate around 2 lakh migrants, who have returned home amid Covid-19, at the cost of Tk427.30 crore.   

Under the project approved by the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) on Wednesday, each migrant will receive one-time cash support of Tk13,500. Among the returnees, 23,500 will be selected depending on the skills they have to help them get recognition from well-known organisations and find them jobs in and outside the country. 

A database of returnee migrants will also be created to engage them in productive works and small entrepreneurships. Of the project fund, Tk425 crore will be given by the World Bank in loans. 

After the Ecnec meeting presided over by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Planning Minister MA Mannan gave details of the approved projects to the media.   

The planning minister said Ecnec approved 10 projects involving Tk2,575 crore in total. Of the money, Tk2,150 crore will be spent from the government exchequer and the rest will be provided by the WB for the rehabilitation of migrants. 

Three of the projects are old and one has been revised for the third time. 

The minister said it was not wrong to revise a project, but if it was done for no valid reason, the Planning Commission would take action. 

Dr Shamsul Alam, state minister for planning, said nearly 5 lakh migrants had come back home due to the pandemic. The government will work in 32 districts to rehabilitate 2 lakh of the returnees. 

Another project has been taken to build 3 underpasses and a U-loop on Dhaka-Chittagong highway. It is expected to be complete by 2024 at the cost of Tk569 crore.  

The construction of Bangladesh Chancery Bhaban in Caberra of Australia that has been delayed by nearly three decades is expected to get a momentum as Ecnec approved a project estimating an expenditure of Tk146.87 crore. 

Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University in the capital will get a child cardiology and child cardiac surgery unit at the expense of Tk 72.9 crore. 

The government has also allocated Tk446,12 crore to protect the river banks at Louhajang and Tangibari upazilas of Munshiganj at the downstream of the Padma Multi-Purpose Bridge. 

Moreover, Tk98.61 crore will be spent to build a food-processing industry at the Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation in Thakurgaon.  

Prime Minister's directives

PM Sheikh Hasina instructed the authorities concerned to build overpasses, underpasses and U-loops at important points during the construction and expansion of roads across the country to ease the public movement. 

She also insisted on maintaining the necessary minimum heights while building bridges, so vehicles can easily pass underneath them. 

The PM asked the Roads and Highways Division, Local Government Engineering Department and Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority to work in coordination to implement her directives. 

At the briefing, the planning minister said the authority was considering demolishing Shaheed Buddhijibi Bridge over the Buriganga river due to its flawed construction that hindered movement of vessels under the bridge inaugurated only 11 years ago