Hasina wants master plan for grassroots development

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has said that it will be possible to provide government services to the people quickly if work at the grassroots level follows a master plan for development.

Staff Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 10 Feb 2019, 11:06 AM
Updated : 10 Feb 2019, 11:07 AM

The prime minister made the remarks during a discussion at the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives at 10:30 am on Sunday.

“We need to create a master plan for the upazilas and unions. Buildings are built without planning. Whenever anyone makes enough money they waste their farmland and make a building. There is no proper calculation or consideration,” she said.

“If we set up a regulatory framework, one that determines where buildings can be put up – homesteads are a different matter – we can prevent these buildings from cropping up. And roads are being built haphazardly too. There is no need for so many roads. If they are better planned out then we will save money and land.”

The prime minister said that it might be a good idea to develop master plans for each upazila and set aside land for sports fields, schools, small and large industry and agriculture.

“If we can manage it, the people will accept it and follow it. I believe that is what we need to do.”

She spoke of the government’s current initiatives and future plans and urged officials to work according to those goals.

“When we present the budget we should keep in mind how we will deliver our services to the people. The plan for the future … will be determined somewhat centrally, but I want to give the responsibility of implementing them to the district level. We want to know their demands for the budget, what needs to be developed, how we can reach the people. We will plan accordingly.”

“We will create our total budget through this understanding and will allocate it according to the needs of the different regions so that every paisa is for development and improving the lives of people. That is our plan.”

Hasina spoke of decentralising power and strengthening local government.

“Otherwise development will not be sustainable,” she said.