Introduction and Background
This is the first time in the history of Bangladesh that an elected Government has stepped into its second term in office having successfully completed the first one. This bears testimony to the unflinching trust that the people have chosen to bestow on us. We believe that this continuity will enable the Government to take forward its development initiatives to a higher trajectory. The Honourable Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina took steps to hold the national election under an all-party government despite not being bound by any constitutional obligation. However, I have to say with deep regret that a large political party, by boycotting the election, vainly tried to disrupt our democratic process.Madam Speaker
Our Targets: Our policy is to enhance public expenditure in the next five years and to this end domestic resource mobilization has to be scaled up. Over the past 5 years, revenue collection has increased from 10.7 percent to 13.3 percent of GDP. At the same time, the size of public spending has increased from 15.7 percent to 18.3 percent of GDP. The target over the next 5-years would be to augment resource mobilization to 17 percent and increase the size of the budget to 22 percent of GDP. Side by side, it would be our core objective to transform Bangladesh into a middle-income country by 2021 through structural and other reforms, especially in the areas of strengthening local government, land management, institutional development and good governance. In the current tenure, human development will be high on our priority agenda.We will take a holistic approach encompassing all relevant issues to make the local government institutions more powerful and equally responsible. Establishing good governance with transparency and accountability at all levels is our motto. We want to shift the seats of power to the local levels, as far as possible, doing away with the heavily centralised administration. ZilaParishad, UpazilaParishad and Union Parishad will be vested with more power and authority.This will require us to revamp the present shape of local government which we will do gradually. We will try to make an effective hierarchical division among local government bodies and will leave issues like education, health, law enforcement, social safety in their hands to take care of. We will also expand the scope of e-governance for enhanced accountability and transparency.
Administrative reform and strengthening local government
With the decentralisation of power, we will have to take appropriate measures for administrative reforms. We have to keep it in mind that it will require massive administrative reforms to introduce decentralisation in its truest meaning in our country, because of the fact that here centralised administration is so deeply rooted that it is quite hard to dismantle. It is not enough to just to arm the local government bodies with more power and responsibility; it will also require an efficient bureaucracy to make proper policies so that the people can enjoy the fruits of decentralisation. On the whole, the following issues will have to be carefully looked into to make the local government more effective:A careful scrutiny has to be made to decide what subjects of the central government can be transferred to the local authority and in what manner A clear division of work among Zila, Upazila and Union Parishads A specialised bureaucracy suited for the local government has to be created with provision for imparting appropriate training A fair system of revenue sharing between the central and local government institutions has to be established. There should be wider deliberations on these issues both in the Parliament and beyond. The administrative system of a country gradually develops within the framework provided by its society, history and political system. Therefore, administrative reform process is not only slow, but also difficult. However, I am optimistic that we will be able to formulate and implement a strategy for decentralisation, administrative reforms and strengthening of local government system through national consensus.
Madam Speaker
Authoritative Land Records: There is no alternative to proper land management system for attracting investment in agriculture and industry sectors. I must admit that we are trailing behind in this sector. I have always maintained that we want to ensure food security together with rapid industrialisation. To fulfill this goal, our main task would be to implement scientific land management and digitise the land records of our country. In the case of land management, our core targets would be to carry the land-related services to the doorstep of the common people and make the whole process business-friendly. Accordingly, we want to introduce Authoritative Land Records (ALR). Steps have already been taken to provide Authoritative Land Records in 3 upazilas by establishing networks in the Assistant Commissioner (Land) offices, Settlement Offices and Sub-register’s offices. Gradually, we will extend this programme countrywide. We are actively considering the use of PPP for rapid implementation of this initiative.Land Survey and Record: You may know that we took the initiative in our last term to digitalise land settlement and record keeping. Land zoning process is underway in another 40 districts. Besides, the process of digital surveys and record updating has begun in 5 mouzas of Savar upazila in Dhaka district and 48 mouzas of Palash upazila in Narsingdi district. Implementation of Digital Land Management System (DLMS) in 45 upazilas of 7 districts and operationalisation of 20 land information service centres in 20 upazilas are underway. Computerisation of existing records of right in 55 districts will be completed by the next fiscal year.
Madam Speaker
Rural Infrastructure: We laid emphasis in our last term on building rural infrastructure to improve the livelihood of the rural people. We built approximately 25 thousand km road and 1 lakh 51 thousand meter bridges and culverts during this period. We ensured the maintenance of existing 48 thousand km metal road. Besides, 1 thousand 137 km canals were re-excavated to efficiently manage the surface water and to expand the irrigation system. Consequently, irrigation can now be extended to 91 thousand hectares area of agricultural land.Pure Water and Sanitation: We have established 1 lakh 37 thousand arsenic-free water sources and also introduced water supply through pipe line in 86 villages. Our success in increasing the sanitation facilities in the country is commendable as well. Thanks to our constant efforts, more than 95 percent of the families in Bangladesh use sanitary latrine which is the highest in the SAARC region.
Growth Centre: We have completed the process of developing as many as 1414 growth centres and rural bazaars to revamp the rural economy. Ninety five percent growth centres are now connected with the district headquarters through upazila, rural and other roads. As many as 484 cooperative markets have been established so that necessary items reach the consumers at a fair price. 9 milk cooling centres have been established to increase the production of domestic milk through cooperatives.
Chapter III
Budget for FY 2013-14: Adjustments and Revisions
Political Instability and Revision of Budget for FY 2013-2014: Now I would like to reflect on the adjustments and revisions in the budget for FY 2013-14. In the run up to the 10th national election there had been a serious political unrest in the first six months of the current financial year. Various political parties and alliances observed a total of 45 days hartal and blockade during July 2013 to January 2014. These hartals and blockades were not limited to 12 or 24 hours, rather at times even continued for a week. Communication was disrupted, port activities came to a halt, retail and wholesale buying-selling came down to almost zero which had a debilitating effect on government revenue collection. Frenzied destruction of government properties was another salient feature of these hartals and blockades. According to the World Bank, this political vandalism caused loss of Tk. 11,000 crore in the national economy which is around 1 percent of GDP.It is important at this stage to give some reflections on how negatively political instability affected revenue collection. The target of tax revenue collection was set at Tk. 95 thousand 785 crore in the budget of FY 2011-12 and was increased by Tk. 500 crore in the revised budget. It was Tk. 1 lakh 16 thousand 824 crore in the original budget of FY 2012-13, which remained unchanged in the revised budget. On the other hand, due to political unrest, the target of tax revenue had to be revised downward at Tk. 1 lakh 30 thousand and 178 crore in FY 2013-14 by reducing Tk. 11 thousand crore. Taking these factors into consideration, I am presenting the revised budget separately in Table 1 below. Now, I am presenting an analysis of the overall revenue, expenditure and deficit of the government along with the implementation of Annual Development Programmes (ADP):
I would like to inform the citizens that despite the destructive activities of the opposition, the revised estimate will be only 2.8 percent less than the original estimate determined at the beginning of the current fiscal. It means that even in adverse situation, we could sustain the momentum of ADP implementation and maintain effective cooperation with our development partners.
Chapter IV
Our Economy in the Global Context
Global Economic Trend: Following the adoption of accommodative monetary policy and fiscal consolidation, global economy, especially, advanced economies have been showing signs of progress since the fourth quarter of the last year. As a result, not only unemployment has gone down in these countries but consumer and investor confidence has been restored as well due to higher aggregate demand. Over all, economies of USA, Japan and Euro area have been experiencing a solid recovery. This is reflected in the latest IMF forecast of the world economic growth of 3.6 percent and 3.9 per cent respectively in 2014 and 2015. In 2014 and 2015, this growth would be 2.2 percent and 2.3 percent in the advanced economies and 6.7 percent and 6.8 percent in the developing Asian economies.
Domestic Economic Scenario: We have maintained satisfactory economic growth amidst global economic slowdown. Despite political tension in the second half of the FY 2012-13, we could achieve 6.01 percent growth (base year 2005-06). Attainment of 10 percent growth in the industry sector contributed significantly to this achievement. On the other hand, due to adverse weather condition and lower crop price, growth in broad agriculture sector was rather low. While there was significant growth in forestry, fisheries and livestock sectors, growth in the crop sector was relatively small. At the same time, due to interference in the transport sector because of strike, blockade and political violence, service sector growth stood below expectation. From the demand side perspective, despite increase in personal consumption expenditure due to inflow of remittances, investment did not show up any significant growth. In comparison, public investment registered substantial growth. On the other hand, while there was robust growth in export, it was not matched by import growth. A table containing macro-economic indicators on economic situation of Bangladesh is given below.
Table 2: A Glance of Recent Performance of Bangladesh Economy* *Data from 2009-10 to 2012-13 (1995-96 base year) You are aware that at the outset of FY 2013-14, our GDP growth target was set at 7.2 per cent. However, due to political unrest that continued from the previous year different sectors of the economy were adversely affected. As a result, achieving 7.2 percent growth will not be possible in this year. According to the preliminary estimate of Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) GDP growth in FY 2013-14 will be 6.12 percent. Resurgent political stability following the national election combined with government’s complementary policy support have encouraged investment and export trade. As a result the industry and service will be able to make good the losses caused in the first half of the current fiscal year. Moreover, there has been a bumper production of Aus and Boro this year because of favourable weather condition and our continued policy and input support. I foresee a prospect of substantial growth in agriculture sector in this fiscal.
Growth Target and Assumptions: We hope that in the next fiscal, investment, export and remittance flows will increase as it is expected that the global economy will experience accelerated growth. During this period, food and energy prices in the international market are likely to decline slightly. Besides, an investment-friendly monetary policy will be maintained ensuring uninterrupted credit flows to the productive sectors. Government initiatives for developing physical infrastructure in the power, energy and communication sectors will continue. Different initiatives will be undertaken for the development of skills and human resources. Fiscal, monetary and stock market reforms will go on. Foreign investment and assistance are expected to increase. Credit and input support will continue in the broad agriculture sector. Above all, I am expecting favorable weather and political stability. Based on these assumptions and expectations, we have set the GDP target at 7.3 percent for FY 2014-15.
Inflation: We have been quite successful in containing inflation. At the end of June in the last fiscal year, point to point inflation was 8 percent that came down to 7.4 percent at the end of April in the current fiscal year. During this time, non-food inflation declined to 5.2 percent. But food inflation sneaked up as there was disruption in supply due to continued strikes and blockades at the beginning of this fiscal year. However, I hope that the declining trend in food price in the neighboring as well as other countries will pull down the price of food grains in the coming days. Factoring in the declining trend in food and energy price in the international markets along with satisfactory domestic agricultural production and supportive monetary policy, I believe that the general inflation in Bangladesh will be hovering around 7.0 percent by June 2014 and will reduce further at the end of the next fiscal year.
Money and Credit: We are continuing our efforts to enhance efficiency in banking sector. As a result, the deposit and lending interest rate spread has come down to around 5 percent by February 2014. We are also seeking to ensure uninterrupted credit flows to the agriculture sector, and small and medium enterprises together with other important sectors. Over the first nine months of current fiscal, 78.4 percent of the total agricultural and rural credit target of Tk. 14 thousand 595 crore has been distributed. Credit flow to the small and medium enterprises up to December 2013 increased by 14.9 percent, year on year. Term loan in the industrial sector has increased by 3.7 percent in the second quarter of the current fiscal year.
Import and export: Export has increased by 13.2 percent till April 2014, year on year. On the other hand, imports of goods and services though declined in the last fiscal year, it has posted a growth of 17.5 percent till March 2014, year on year. We expect that import and export growth will accelerate thanks to a positive trend in the global economy. We are assuming that export earnings and import expenditure may increase by approximately 15 percent.
Remittance and manpower export: Remittance has declined by 4.8 percent till April 2014 of the current fiscal against last fiscal year’s growth of 12.6 percent. In this context, I should add that it has declined not only in our country; rather there is a global downward trend of remittance flows. According to the World Bank, remittance growth in the South Asian countries was only 2.3 percent in 2013 while it was only 1.7 percent in India. Presently the significant spending by expatriate workers for legalization of their employment in Saudi Arabia brought this decline in remittance in Bangladesh. We are taking different measures to increase manpower export taking into cognizance the current trend in this sector.
Foreign Exchange Reserve and Exchange Rate: Foreign exchange reserve stood at US$ 15.3 billion at the end of the last fiscal year. In the current fiscal year with the decline in trade deficit together with an inflow in the capital and financial account till February 2014, foreign exchange reserve has increased consistently and stood at US$ 20.2 billion on 27th May 2014 which is sufficient to foot the import bills of approximately 6 months. The value of Taka is stable against US Dollar as well. Remittance, aid flow and foreign investment will be at the satisfactory level as both domestic and external fronts are showing positive developments. As a result, I hope, though trade deficit may widen, foreign reserve will remain at a comfortable level while the exchange rate will remain stable.
Chapter V
FY 2014-15 Budget Structure
Madam Speaker
Medium Term Macroeconomic Framework: In the light of the global perspective and also what I reflected on our future agenda, we have prepared the budget for next fiscal year. The main objective of the proposed budget will be to maintain continuity of existing monetary and fiscal policy strategies being pursued and to ensure macroeconomic stability. As you all know, we have undertaken a range of legal, regulatory and structural reforms in the revenue sector. Moreover, additional manpower has been sanctioned to revamp the activities of this sector. Efforts to strengthen revenue collection in the next budget will continue through these ongoing reforms. Alongside, steps to widen fiscal space through public expenditure control will also continue. Its worth mentioning that all data used in setting the budget taking 1995-96 as base year although BBS has already rearranged their data using 2005-06 as the base year. In fact budget setting process starts around the middle of the fiscal year. There we could not present our data using new base year. Only in table 4 the provisional estimate has been presented using 2005-2006 as base year because BBS could not provide them using previous base year. In Table 3 an outline on budget structure has been presented.Overall Expenditure Structure: Now, I would like to present a brief outline of the overall expenditure (development and non-development) structure of the proposed budget. We have classified different ministries/divisions into three groups based on their functions. These are social infrastructure, physical infrastructure and general service sectors. In the proposed budget, 25.16 percent has been allocated to social infrastructure sector, of which 21.58 percent has been proposed for human resource (education, health, and other related sectors). 30.15 percent of total allocation has been proposed for physical infrastructure sector, of which 14.69 percent has been proposed for overall agriculture and rural development, 9.24 percent for overall communication sector and 4.61 percent for power and energy sector. 23.58 percent of total allocation has been proposed for general services sector, 3.4 percent of total allocation has been proposed for Public-Private Partnership (PPP), financial assistance for different industries, subsidy, and equity investment in nationalized banks and financial institutions; 12.39 percent has been proposed for interest payments. Remaining 5.34 percent will be spent for net lending and other expenditures. Hopefully, the budget framework proposed in view of the domestic and global perspectives will support growth as well as contain inflation. People will find their aspirations reflected in it.
Chapter VII
Human Resource Development
Education
Madam Speaker
Implementing Education Policy: It is our fundamental commitment to continue with the policies we pursued in the education sector and sustain the achievements we made during our last tenure. InsAllah, we will succeed in implementing most of our plans set out in the Education Policy, 2010 in this tenure. To this end, we will lay highest emphasis on improving the quality of education; adopting modern technology based teaching methods and continuing adequate infrastructure building. There will also be an initiative to .improve the teacher-student ratio to an acceptable level. Madrasa education will be modernised to make them amenable to the mainstream education. In these institutions, courses on IT will be introduced including Honours courses.Creative Talent Hunt: We have already started promoting originality in thinking by exposing our students to creative questions. Difficult though it was, thanks to the sincere efforts of teachers, students and guardians we could accomplish this task. We are aiming at setting creative questions for all the subjects. Besides, last year for the first time, we launched a programme titled ‘Creative Talent Hunt’ to recognize and reward the young talents. This practice will continue in future.
Higher Education: To fulfill our election pledge, we will continue to establish public and private universities in all the districts of the country. At the same time, the pursuit of science research will be encouraged in those institutes.
Madam Speaker
Eradication of Illiteracy: By now, we have ensured almost 100 percent enrolment at the primary level. Now our goal will be to eradicate illiteracy. We are planning to provide 45 lakh illiterate adolescent and people belonging to the age group of 15-45 years with basic literacy and livelihood training.Primary Education up to Class VIII: As part of National Education Policy, we have taken up a number of programmes to upgrade the primary education level up to class VIII by 2018. In the meantime, we have started class VI and class VII in 754 primary schools. Gradually all other primary schools will be brought under this process.
Pre-primary and Inclusive Education: We have introduced pre-primary education programme at all primary schools. By this time, a curriculum has been developed and books have been printed. Side by side, we have formulated an inclusive education manual for the retarded children and people living in inaccessible areas. The relevant teachers have also been trained on the manual.
Health and Family Welfare
Madam Speaker
Community Clinic: Our success in the health sector has already been recognized both at home and abroad. Our ultimate goal is to reduce maternal mortality rate down to 143 per lakh live births. Although our progress in reducing child mortality rate is satisfactory, we want to bring it down further.Telemedicine and Health Insurance: We are aiming at raising average life expectancy to 72 years by 2021. At the same time, we will be trying to provide easy access to reproductive health service delivery system to reduce the birth rate. We are working on expanding tele-medicine service. Moreover, we are going to take special attempt to introduce social health insurance programme, as early as possible, in order to bring down the medical expenses within the affordability of the poor.
Power and Energy
Madam Speaker
Electricity: InsAllah, with the implementation of medium and long term plans electricity will reach every household within the next five years. You might be aware that we had set a target of generating 20,000 MW of electricity by 2021. Considering the growing demand and increasing generation capacity, we have re-fixed this target at 24,000 MW. Several milestones have been identified to achieve the changed target. I am providing you the estimates of the year 2017 because the centres for which contract has been made will go for generation by that time.To take initiatives, apart from increasing domestic production, to generate and allocate power through bilateral, multilateral and regional agreements with neighboring India, Bhutan and Nepal to raise generation capacity to 18,162 MW of electricity by 2017
To establish coal based power plants with a generation capacity of 1426 MW by 2017 which will shift the burden from gas which contributes to 78 percent of power generation in the country.
To establish two nuclear power plants at Ruppur with a total generation capacity of 2000 MW of electricity
To produce 800 MW of electricity by 2015 using renewable energy. A special fund has been established to finance renewable energy based power plants. The size of the fund will stand at TK.400 crore with this year’s allocation
To install more than 60,000 pre-paid metres to ensure efficiency, transparency, and accountability in power management.
Energy: Steps are underway to enhance the capacity of BAPEX. Special emphasis will be laid on discovery of new gas and oil fields. In addition, scope of assistance and cooperation with international organisations to explore new gas and oil fields in the coastal and deep sea areas will be widened. Alongside, we will take necessary steps to dig 21 wells in order to enhance gas generation capacity by 2015-16.
Madam Speaker
Food Security: We have been attaching priority to food security since assumption of office. Necessary allocations have been made to this sector to operationalise the National Food Policy and Bangladesh Country Investment Plan, CIP, 2009. There was adequate supply of food at fair price in the market throughout our last term because of our efficient management which we want to continue in future as well. In the present term, our aim will be to ensure food safety and its equitable distribution. A piece of legislation titled The Pure Food Act, 2013 was enacted last October. Framing of rules under this new law and the establishment of Pure Food Authority are underway. We expect your active support to our crusade against food adulteration.In the meantime, a framework for water sharing of Teesta and Feni Rivers has been prepared. The joint water resources management activities along with generation of hydro-electricity by making reservoir at the Ganges and Brahmaputra basins are well on course. We have a plan to preserve and maintain nearly 52 km of river banks by FY 2015-16 to protect our valuable lands, border outposts and important infrastructures from river erosion.
We will make 1.63 lakh hectares of land free from flood and expand irrigation facilities to 54 thousand hectares of land in the next five fiscal years
We will excavate 192 km and re-excavate 2,111 km of irrigation canals. In addition, 204 irrigation structures will be built along with the repair of an additional 279 structures. Furthermore, 6709 km of discharge canals will be excavated and, where necessary, re-excavated.
We will carry out capital dredging in the major rivers like the Ganga-Padma, the Brahmaputra- Jamuna and the Meghna. Side by side, regular dredging will continue in the Buriganga, the Turag, the Pungliand the Dhaleshshari rivers Steps will be taken to reclaim land from sea by constructing Swandip-Urirchar –Noakhali cross dam, infrastructure and circular dams around char Alexander, char Mainka –char Islam-char Montaj cross-dam to prevent intrusion of saline water. We will also build cross dam in the coastal areas to reclaim 20,000 hectares of land
Madam Speaker
Rural development: We believe in equitable development in all parts of the country. We want to narrow the existing gap between rural and urban areas in terms of development which will stem the tide of urban migration. Each union parishad will be transformed into a vibrant habitat with all modern civic amenities. We will connect 2 thousand 51 growth centres with district headquarters. Modern education, electricity, health care, pure drinking water, sanitation, agro-based industry will be made available in rural areas that will facilitate establishment of small township and suburbs.
Climate Change and Environment
Madam Speaker
Action Plan for Climate Change: Bangladesh is one of the most vulnerable countries exposed to global climate change. We will take initiatives to evaluate and update Bangladesh Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan, 2009 on the basis of our need. To implement this Action Plan, we allocated Tk. 2,555 crore in the last five fiscal years. However, this allocation will be reduced in future and instead steps will be taken to increase Bangladesh Climate Change Resilience Fund (BCCRF) established with the assistance of our development partners. Our development partners have already provided a total amount of US Dollar186.9 Million in BCCRF fund. Besides, we have started working on the implementation of Road Map for National Adaptation Plan as well as Road Map for Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Action, NAMA.The Padma Bridge: The construction of Padma Multipurpose Bridge is our topmost priority. It will create a direct road link between 19 districts of south-west region and Dhaka along with northern region of Bangladesh. Once completed, this will induce a growth to the tune of 1.2 percent of GDP per year. Let me inform the House that the construction of Padma Bridge is underway despite myriads of difficulties. In the meantime, the land acquisition and rehabilitation activities of the project is about to finish. The construction of approach roads from both directions is progressing well. I hope the construction of main bridge will kick-start this month and the engagement of contractors for river training will take place in July-August.
Prevention of Traffic Congestion: We have taken proper initiatives to implement the MRT Line-6 project from Uttara to Motijheel under the supervision of Dhaka Transport Coordination Authority (DTCA) as per plan. Meanwhile, the Metro Rail Act, 2014 has been sent to the cabinet for its approval. A contract has been signed with the investment partner to construct the 46.73 km. long Dhaka elevated express way from Hazrat Shah Jalal International Airport to Kutubkhali of Dhaka-Chittagong highway. Besides, pre-feasibility study for 42 km long Dhaka-Ashulia elevated express way from Hazrat Shah Jalal (Ra) International Airport to Chandra under PPP has been completed. We have a plan to construct an international convention centre on the other side of the Buriganga and a fly-over starting from Shantinagar, crossing over the Buriganga to ensure faster communication with the convention centre.
Construction and reconstruction of 441 km rail line is under way. In order to make railway communication between the two cities more punctual, we have taken initiatives to upgrade Dhaka-Chittagong corridor into double lines. Side by side, the construction of 2nd Bhairab and2nd Titas Rail Bridge is in progress. The Dhaka-Sylhet railway communication is extremely delicate and we have taken up a plan to revamp it. The feasibility of establishing a container terminal either at Shayestagonj or Srimangal will be assessed by conducting a survey. In this respect, the prospect of growing trading activities with Tripura and Karimgonj will be taken into consideration. We will construct in phases the Dhaka-Mongla and Chittagong-Cox’s Bazar rail lines.
Housing and Planned Urbanisation
Madam Speaker
Planned Urbanisation: Planned urbanisation has become a big challenge for us because of the acceleration of population growth. Realizing the importance of planned urbanisation our government formulated Dhaka, Khulna and Chittagong Metropolis Detailed Area Plan (DAP) and Sylhet, Chittagong and Barisal Divisional Area Structural Plan in the last tenure. In our current tenure, we will modify Dhaka Detailed Area Plan (DAP) to make it more realistic and modern. To this end, we have started drafting DAP (2016-2035). The principal means of solving the problem of urbanisation is to build rural habitats encompassing a number of developed or densely populated villages and to create townships by linking them with the national highways.
Industrialization and Commerce
Madam Speaker
We all know that there is no alternative to industrialization if we mean to earn the status of a middle income country by 2021. Here, I would like to enumerate the strategies that the Government will consider as priority for employment generation and investment in the next five years as it did in its last term: Expanding physical infrastructure facilities Simplifying the rules and regulations Making One-Stop Service operational Creating investment-friendly political and social environment Diversifying export products Providing reasonable financial incentives to the investors Providing tax benefits and financial assistances to the entrepreneurs of industries like food and agro-processing, ship building, light engineering, pharmaceuticals, plastic, toy industry, household appliances, IT, leather and chemicals. At the same time, special tax benefits will be provided to the entrepreneurs for establishing industries outside the jurisdictions of city corporations. Providing a grant of Tk. 10 crore for establishing an Institute of Plastic Engineering and Technology considering the potential of plastic based industry. Minimum Wages: Since the day of its inception, Bangladesh Awami League has been working for the greater welfare of the under-privileged farmers and workers in the society. Considering the contribution of garment workers to the national economy as well as the escalating costs of living, our government has re-fixed the minimum wages by raising it to Tk. 5,300. To award minimum wages in line with the costs of living, inflation and GDP growth as well as to ensure safety and security in garment industry, a tripartite work plan has been initiated with the participation of the representatives from the government, owners and workers association. In this regard, the Accord signed between the BUET and EU at the initiative of ILO and the Alliance established at the initiative of the importers from the western hemisphere are helping us in identifying the factories with deficient facilities. We have strengthened the Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments and we should take this initiative forward.
Chapter VIII
Reforms and Good Governance
Madam Speaker
Public Expenditure Management: Thanks to our prudent fiscal management, both revenue mobilization and government expenditure have more than doubled in the last tenure of our government. We are continuing the reform initiatives to gradually increase revenue mobilization and to ensure optimal use of public money. In this part of my speech, I would like to reflect briefly on the progress of these reform initiatives and the future plans to carry those forward. A committee has been formed to strengthen parliamentary oversight over budget setting process and to ensure transparency and accountability in public spending. Three different websites have been launched to inform the general public of the committee’s functions. We are working on developing Management Information System (MIS) to infuse dynamism in the activities of the parliamentary committees. Moreover, we are working out an IT strategy paper to provide an added touch of modernity to the activities of the parliament.
Madam Speaker
Rule of Law: We are committed to uphold the dignity and independence of the judiciary. Various steps have been taken for quick disposal of cases that include enhancing efficiency of the judges through training, forming new courts and tribunals, developing new infrastructure and renovating the old ones. Salaries and other benefits of the judges have been raised to elevate their living standards.We have enacted Cyber Crime Act, 2013 to prevent cybercrime and constituted a Cybercrime Tribunal in Dhaka. A special tribunal for Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission, Dhaka has also been established in the current fiscal year. Alternative Dispute Resolution has been made compulsory to avoid legal hassles. A set of rules to implement this has been finalised which is now awaiting circulation by the Rules Committee of Supreme Court. On the other hand, Code of Criminal Procedure (Amendment) bill will be placed before the cabinet soon.
Combating Corruption: Combating corruption has always been our priority. We, however, believe that laws alone cannot eliminate corruption from the society. It will require strong political will, social commitment and institutional drive. Required amendments have been made in the Anti-Corruption Commission Act, 2004 and the Commission is equipped with adequate manpower and logistics to be able to work more efficiently and independently. To raise mass awareness about the evils of corruption, Corruption Prevention Committees have been formed in towns, districts and upazilas comprising respected citizens. We are focusing on students and trying to imbue them with the spirit of honesty and morality and therefore have formed 20,886 Honesty Clubs drawing students from all levels of institutions. Campaigns are being organised throughout the country displaying posters and billboards to raise mass awareness about the stigma of corruption. Above all, we are gradually increasing the use of ICT in government offices to provide more transparency in government activities.
Public Order: We want to eliminate militancy, terrorism and communalism from our country and establish peace, discipline and stability at every sphere of the society. To this end, we have strengthened every branch of our law enforcing agencies which are now working more efficiently with the aid of modern training and equipment. These initiatives for development will continue in future as well. Not only their financial benefits package has been raised; training needs, healthcare and other relevant facilities are also well taken care of.
We want to make police and other law enforcing agencies more people centric and free them from political influence. As declared in the Election Manifesto, we will take steps towards the decentralisation of police. Steps have been taken to improve the capacity of Fire Service and Civil Defense through training and by putting in place modern equipment so that they can handle any eventuality on their own. The BDR has been completely overhauled and emerged with a new name Border Guard Bangladesh in a bid to efface the trauma of the BDR carnage and instill a sense of confidence in them. They are also being provided with further training to improve their skills. Besides, we are investing heavily to increase efficiency of the Department of Narcotics Control, Ansar, VDP, Prison guard and Coastguard.
Madam Speaker
Right to Information: We believe that freedom of press and free flow of information are the basic elements of any democracy. We want to make the Information Commission more efficient and effective and raise public awareness about their right to know. We have included Right to Information Act in the secondary school curriculum. This Act has been published in braille too for the visually impaired people.I propose to offer tax exemption facilities for 5 years in graduated rate for Demutualised Stock Exchange with a view to maintaining stability in capital market together with its continual expansion and strengthening. I also propose to extend the limit of tax exempted dividend income from Tk. 10 thousand to Tk. 15 thousand.
Various steps have been taken to give impetus to new industrial venture in accordance with the electoral commitment of the present government of enhancing investment and increasing employment opportunities. It is, however, important to ensure sustainable industrialisation without disturbing the civic amenities. Industrialisation in the areas other than City Corporations including Dhaka, Chittagong, Narayanganj, Gazipur would effectively create massive employment berths in the least developed areas. With this end in view, I propose the following tax holiday and tax rebate facilities for the industrial undertakings set up in places other than City Corporation.
