Two months have passed since the Awami League formed the government for the fourth straight term amid fears of a looming economic crisis. Even though it is too soon to assess its successes and failures, many believe that some important decisions taken by the government will benefit the common people.
Awami League President Sheikh Hasina was sworn in as prime minister on January 11. At the same time, 25 other ministers and 11 state ministers took the oath of office. The previous day, 299 newly elected lawmakers took the oath of office as members of parliament (elections were suspended in one seat).
The omission of many known faces and influential ministers who were in the previous cabinet was quite a surprise. Meanwhile, a total of 50 members, including 48 members of the Awami League, were sworn in for the reserved women's seats. Later, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina expanded the cabinet by appointing a total of seven people, including four women parliamentarians from reserved seats, as state ministers on March 1. They are all new too.
Political observers say the government was faced with the challenge of controlling inflation, which is also the election promise of the ruling Awami League.
In the beginning, the government decided to conduct market management and integrate strict monitoring into Ramadan, considering that there is no shortage of daily commodities and LC settlement also has no complications. So the government decided that any kind of crisis in the market and unexpected price hikes would not be tolerated in any way.
At an emergency meeting of the inter-ministerial group at the Ministry of Finance on January 21, a high-level committee was formed with Finance Minister Abul Hasan Mahmud Ali as the head and Food Minister Sadhan Chandra Majumdar, Agriculture Minister Abdus Shahid, Fisheries and Livestock Minister Abdur Rahman, and Commerce State Minister Ahsanul Islam Titu as members.
The committee sent a proposal to the Prime Minister's Office on reducing duty on rice, soybean oil, sugar, and dates. In the first cabinet meeting of the government, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina ordered a reduction in duty on rice, edible oil, sugar, and dates. The NBR decided to reduce duty on these four products only after instructions from the prime minister.
The NBR also completely waived import duty on rice and slashed the regulatory duty. The import duty on the import of unrefined sugar has been reduced to Tk1,000 per ton from Tk1,500 and for refined sugar to Tk2,000 from Tk3,000.
In the case of refined and unrefined soybean oil and palm oil, import VAT has been reduced from 15% to 10%, while the import duty on dates has been reduced from 25% to 10-15%.
To keep prices within the purchasing power of people during the fasting season, the government has taken diplomatic initiatives to import 100,000 tons of sugar and 50,000 tons of onions from India. Apart from this, the market price of agricultural products is being published on the website of the Agriculture Marketing Department on a daily basis. Not only that, on the occasion of the holy month of Ramadan, in order to meet the demand of low-income people for safe meat, fish, and milk, the Livestock Department has taken steps to sell the items at 30 spots through mobile sales centres in the capital.
Besides, the customs offices concerned have been instructed to release edible oil, sugar, chickpeas, lentils, and dates quickly.
Asked about commodity prices, State Minister for Commerce Ahsanul Islam Titu said: “Keep trust in the government. We are people-friendly. This government is a symbol of the hope and desire of the common people and will take all programs for the welfare of the people.”
Meanwhile, the Food Ministry has taken a difficult decision to control the price of rice by making it mandatory that the type of rice and mill gate price be written on the sacks. At the same time, the date of manufacture and the name of the manufacturer should be written. These directives must be implemented from April 1.
In case of violation, the government will take the necessary measures as per sections 6 and 7 of the Production, Storage, Transfer, Transportation, Supply, Distribution, and Marketing of Food Products (Prevention of Prejudicial Activity) Act, 2023.
Another important decision of the government in these two months is the new program of the Ministry of Commerce, “One Village, One Product," to begin this month. This program has been initiated to increase the scope of exporting products. Several wings of the ministry, especially the Export Wing and Export Development Bureau (EPB), have started working for this purpose.
It is learned that the ministry has taken up this program in view of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's declaration of handicrafts as the 2024 annual product.
The government has also ordered a reduction in the high prices of medicines. Health Minister Dr Samanta Lal Sen gave this order after learning that the prices have increased by about 30-40% depending on the type and company. Some 308 companies produce more than 27,000 brands of medicines in the country. Of these, prices for only 117 drugs are set by the Department of Drug Administration.
According to the decision of the new government, the Ministry of Forest, Environment, and Climate Change decided to demolish 500 illegally constructed brick kilns in the first 100 days of the government's program. Speaking at a press conference on his action plans on January 25, Minister Saber Hossain Chowdhury said that there are about 1,000 illegal brick kilns in the country. In the next three months, 500 illegal brick kilns will be demolished.
The government has also successfully organized the Bishwa Ijtema, the largest congregation of Muslims after the Hajj. Many people fear the possibility of a chaotic situation between the two sides who are in conflict. But the government managed to create a well-ordered situation by completing the two phases of the event successfully.
SSC and equivalent exams were held soon after this government took charge. This time, the government has played an important role in controlling the question paper leak. Many people think that this is a big success for this government.
