On the occasion of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's birth centenary, Shafiqul Alam, press secretary of the Chief Adviser, said, “We are reaching out to the IMF for $4.7 billion for bailout. But it appears that I have wasted thousands of crores of rupees by making some murals and statues in the name of Mujib Barsha. It has come to the advisory council to document what kind of work has been done in Mujib years and how much money has been wasted. It will be worked on.
He said these things at a press conference organized at Foreign Service Academy in the capital on Thursday (November 7).
He said that the list of how much money has been spent by any ministry will be listed. It will be seen what sector the money went to. In many cases private companies have been forced. As a result, some have cornered Mujib, some have been forced to make a mural of Mujib. In the face of Mujibism, which was a money-spending frenzy, documentation will be done to know how much money was wasted. This decision was made in today's cabinet.
Regarding the wastage of money, he said, a documentation will be made of all that was wasted in the name of Mujib Barsha. Ministries will do the documentation. We saw a report that we could not verify. The newspaper says that 10,000 murals and statues have been made at a cost of 4,000 crores. You see what a waste there is. On the one hand, they have spent thousands of crores of rupees to make idols, and they are getting money from the IMF.
Will any decision be taken regarding all the bureaucrats who served in Mujib years?— In this context, he said, first there is documentation and then we will see what can be done. After documentation we will see how much wastage. These are ordinary tax payer's money. Of course we will see how this money is spent. You must have seen that 117 crore rupees were spent on two murals on Padma Bridge, can you imagine?
Shafiqul Alam said about the decision of the high-level committee to amend the smoking and tobacco products control ordinance, Finance Advisor Saleh Uddin Ahmed will lead the committee. He highlighted the damage to people's health and tax collection by smoking. The press secretary also said that the new law will be considered after considering everything. He said, they will look at the non-conventional sources that the tobacco industry advertises.
The press secretary said that the government is thinking of increasing the necessary medicines from 117 to 260. He said, a new list of essential medicines can be added. Poor people of our country are suffering due to high cost of medicine. A task force will be formed to protect them. They will sit with the stakeholders and take decisions.
When asked about the Data Protection Act, the press secretary said that the government is working on the laws that hinder the expression of people's opinions in Bangladesh. The Law Commission will look into any laws. In their report, they will say which laws need to be removed and revised.
