Most of the projects that were undertaken by the government to achieve the vision of a “digital” country have been progressing at a rather slow pace, Planning Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal said at parliament yesterday.
In reply to a question by Awami League lawmaker Nazrul Islam Babu in this regard, the planning minister also said out of all the projects, worth Tk2,840.61 crore, only one project – Digital Information System by the Statistics and Information Division, worth Tk9.29 crore – has been completed so far.
Most of these projects missed their original deadlines and had to get extensions.
Listing the unfinished projects, the minister said one project, Digitalisation of BPATC, under the Ministry of Public Administration, has progressed around 45%. Launched in October 2012, the Tk11.46-crore project is set to be finished by June next year.
The Access to Information (a2i) programme under the Prime Minister’s Office has different projects worth Tk185.39 crore. Launched in April 2012 with a deadline in March 2016, the projects have have progressed 60% so far.
Rest of the projects have been taken by two different divisions under the Ministry of Post, Telecommunication and Information Technology.
The least progressed project of them all is the Jessore Software Technology Park – it is only 20% complete. Worth Tk240.74 crore, the project was launched in February last year and was supposed to be finished by June this year. The extended deadline is June 2016.
The Leveraging ICT for Growth, Employment and Governance project, which was also launched in February last year, has progressed 26%. The project is worth Tk572.48 crore and is set to be complete by January 2018.
The Learning and Earning Development project by the ICT Division, worth Tk180.4 crore, has progressed 30%. Launched in November last year, the project is set to end in June 2016.
Mustafa Kamal also said the Phase II of the Development of National ICT Infra-Network for Bangladesh Government, worth Tk1,333.44 crore, progressed 45%. The project started in July last year and is set to end in June next year.
The first phase of the project, Banglagovnet, which was set to be complete by next month, has progressed only 70%, he said. Worth Tk307.41 crore, the project was launched in April 2010.
