Information Minister Hasanul Haq Inu Sunday restated that efforts were underway to include internet facilities as a fundamental right in the constitution to ensure free access to ICT for people.
Free access to ICT must be ensured as internet had become an inseparable part of people’s lives, he said at the launching ceremony of an online internet bus ticketing web portal.
Representatives of several private banks, financial institutions and travel agencies, among others, addressed the function with Swansoft Limited MD Ashfaq A Rahman in the chair.
Another important prerequisite for building a Digital Bangladesh was to raise the number of internet users, Inu said, adding that VAT and taxes should be withdrawn from internet services for ensuring free access to ICT.
Inu said the government had envisioned its philosophy, Vision 2021: Digital Bangladesh, leading towards the use of ICT to leverage economic growth and development to transform Bangladesh into a middle-income country by 2021.
In the last four years, he said, there has been a significant growth in the access and penetration of communication technology in Bangladesh.
