The cabinet on Monday approved an amendment proposal for the Vested Property Return (Amendment) Ordinance 2013 that would extend the last date for filing application for getting back vested properties.
According to the amendment, the applicants who want to apply to the government for getting back their properties will be able to do so until December 31, 2013.
Following a cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at the Secretariat on Monday, Cabinet Secretary Mohammad Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan told reporters that the government had decided on the extension because the previously fixed date had already passed, and in most cases, the aggrieved persons could not apply due to valid reasons.
He said in order to execute the extension of the deadline from June 30 to December 31; an ordinance would be issued after the law minister examines the amendment proposal, because at present no parliament session was going on.
It would be sent to the parliament for passage the next time a session sits, the cabinet secretary said.
The government has also given directives to the Ministry of Liberation War Affairs, to prepare a proposal to raise the allowances for all freedom fighters as soon as possible considering the current standard of living.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina passed the directive to the state minister for liberation war affairs during a discussion on raising the allowances of the gallantry award-winning civil freedom fighters.
According to the proposal that the cabinet approved, the allowances of 217 civil freedom fighters will be increased.
The cabinet secretary also said there were 676 gallant award-winning freedom fighters, including the Bir Shreshtha, Bir Uttam, Bir Bikram and Bir Protiks, of which 217 were civilians.
Mosharraf said: “After the Liberation War, the government at that time, fixed the allowances for the freedom fighters considering the economic scenario of that period. The allowances were Tk200, Tk150, Tk125 and Tk100 for Bir Shreshthas, Bir Uttams, Bir Bikroms and Bir Protiks respectively. These allowances, however, are inappropriate for the present time.
“The allowances for the award-winning freedom fighters from the military and uniformed forces were increased once in 2011. However, those of the civilian freedom fighters were not enhanced. Which was discriminatory.
“They will now get Tk12,000, Tk10,000, Tk8,000 and Tk6,000 as allowances according to the awards they had received,” Mosharraf said.
The cabinet secretary said along with the freedom fighters, the spouses or the children of deceased freedom fighters would also get allowances from now on.