MRP at all districts in a month

The machine readable passport (MRP) project will get underway in all districts within a month says the Ministry of Home Affairs.

The announcement was made on Sunday at a meeting of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Government Assurances.

Its member, Whip Md Shahiduzzaman Sarker, told reporters: “The home ministry said the MRP project will start in all districts within a month once the issue of people’s harassment over passports was raised.”

The programme to introduce MRPs was launched in 2010.

The facility is currently available in 34 regional passport offices in 31 districts, and in 48 Bangladeshi embassies abroad. Until now, about 900,000 such passports have been issued.

The government has recently started regional passport offices as pilot projects in five districts and is working towards opening them in the remaining 28.

These offices will eventually start providing machine readable passports, the home ministry officials told Sunday’s meeting.

It also discussed the progress in implementing the prime minister’s ninth parliamentary election pledges and the home minister’s assurances.

According to the home ministry, 26 out of the 54 electoral pledges were implemented and the rest were in the pipeline.

Regarding the prime minister’s pledge to build a fire service station at every Upazila in the country, the ministry said such stations had already been built at 273 of 496 Upazilas, while the rest would be built within this year.

The meeting also discussed the setting up of marine police outposts at important points along the Padma River to ensure safety and security of ferry passengers.

The parliamentary panel meeting was attended by its chief Kazi Keramat Ali, members Shahiduzzaman Sarker, AKM Shahgahan Kamal, Md Abdul Majid Khan and Mir Mostaque Ahmed Robi and home ministry Senior Secretary Md Mozammel Haque Khan and other officials.