The first thing the new citizens of Bangladesh in the former Indian exclaves expect from the government is to get power connections, said a resident of Dasiar Chhara.
Good news for them as the government has instructed the deputy commissioners concerned to take necessary steps to bring the former Indian exclaves – now ceded to Bangladesh – under electricity coverage as soon as possible.
Read more: Migration of former exclave residents to take time
Official formalities and laws have been relaxed to bring the new lands under electricity coverage, said Habibur Rahman, deputy commissioner of Lalmonirhat.
These new connections would be provided free of charge, Rural Electrification Board (REB) Chairman Brig Gen Moin Uddin told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday. The connections also include installation of wiring in homes.
“We will supply electricity to these areas very soon in order to bolster irrigation and agricultural production,” Habibur Rahman said.
Altab Hossain, a resident of former exclave Dasiar Chhara, told the Dhaka Tribune: “For years, we have struggled to farm the land. There was no electricity and therefore no irrigation. Most people living in the exclaves are involved in farming as their means of livelihood.”
REB Chairman Brig Gen Moin Uddin expects that some 8,000 families in the new Bangladesh territory will get electricity connections within a year.
The REB will install a total of 151 kilometres of overhead power lines to provide electricity to 27 former exclaves in Kurigram, Nilphamari and Thakurgaon districts, Moin told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.
Also read: Indian exclave residents choose to become Bangladeshi • Why some are opting for India
Power Development Board member ATM Zahirul Islam Majumder said: “We will also provide electricity connections to exclaves that come under the jurisdiction of the PDB.”
Of the 111 former exclaves, 27 fall under the jurisdiction of the REB and the rest under the PDB.
Meanwhile, law enforcers have set up security camps in the new territories in order to maintain law and order. Primary education centres have also started operation at local mosques since the first day of independence.
Bangladesh Bank has advised all scheduled banks to take up programmes under corporate social responsibility budgets to help improve the living condition of the new Bangladeshis.
The central bank issued a circular yesterday considering the needs of the under-served people living in the neglected areas.