The government has taken an initiative to form "Bangamata Mahila Samabaya Samiti" in every upazila of the country marking the 91st birth anniversary of Bangamata Sheikh Fajilatunnesa Mujib.
"The formation of the association in each upazila will be completed by next December... Through this, we want to remember her contribution in the Liberation War of 1971," State Minister for Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives Swapan Bhattacharjee said on Monday.
"The number of members of the association will be 71," he said at a briefing at the conference room of the ministry, said a press release.
"Bangamata has revived the Liberation War as an invisible force for the liberation of the nation and has played an important role from behind the scene," the minister added.
Also Read - Five receive Bangamata Begum Fazilatunnesa Mujib Award
"Bangamata actively supported Bangabandhu in every step of the long freedom movement of the Bengali nation."
He further said: "In independent Bangladesh, Bangabandhu recognized cooperatives as the second sector of ownership of the constitution. Bangabandhu wanted to make the rural people economically self-sufficient by setting up multi-purpose cooperatives in the villages."
"That unfinished work of economic self-reliance is being implemented under the able leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina," he added.
Secretary of the Department of Rural Development and Cooperatives Rezaul Ahsan, BRDB Director General Supriya Kumar Kundu, Registrar and Director General of the Department of Cooperatives M Harun-ur-Rashid were present, among others.