The interim government on Thursday formed four more reform commissions aiming at reforms in the country’s sectors involving health, mass media, workers’ rights, and women’s affairs.
Environment, forest, and climate change adviser Syeda Rizwana Hasan shared the government’s decisions while briefing the journalists at the Foreign Service Academy in Dhaka after the weekly meeting of the council of advisors.
She said that the four new reform commissions would have a full-fledged shape within the next seven to 10 days, she said.
National Professor Dr AK Azad will lead the commission on health affairs, and columnist Kamal Ahmed will be head of the commission on mass media.
Besides, Bangladesh Institute of Labour Studies executive director Syed Sultan Uddin Ahmed will lead the commission on workers’ rights, and Naripokkho founder and rights activist Shireen Parveen Huq will lead the commission on women’s affairs.
Earlier on September 12, the interim government led by Professor Muhammad Yunus formed six commissions to reform the electoral system, police, judiciary, public administration, constitution, and anti-corruption, and the commissions have already started their activities.
The chief adviser’s special assistant, Mahfuj Alam, said at the press conference that the government decided to provide Tk 30 lakh to each of the families of martyrs during the July-August student-mass uprising.
He said that the government would primarily provide Tk 30 lakh to the families of the martyred ones. ‘Similar arrangements will be made for those who will be added to the list of martyrs after scrutiny.’
Mahfuj said that the July Shaheed Smriti Foundation was working at their full capacity so that the victims of the revolution could get their due honour.
Apart from rehabilitating the families of the martyrs in July-August, efforts were also being made to rehabilitate the families of the injured, and a visible initiative would come soon, he added.
Rizwana said that a list of seven injured people during the mass uprising had already been prepared to send them aboard for better treatment.
She said that the government was once again making it clear that no negligence in the treatment of the injured people would be tolerated.
‘All public and private hospitals in Bangladesh have been instructed to provide the injured persons with treatment free of cost,’ she said, adding that the hospitals that took money from the victims were asked to return the money.
Rizwana also said that the government believed in freedom of media, but a section of people was spreading fake information on social media sites. She urged everyone to avoid spreading any fake news or disinformation.
She also informed that they discussed the traffic management of Dhaka city at the meeting of the advisory council and the council decided that there was a scope to engage students after training to assist law enforcement agencies in bringing discipline on the streets and reducing people’s sufferings.
About the movements regarding different issues, she said that the doors of the government were open to all.
She urged the people to hold discussions with the government before going to the demonstration.
Rizwana also said that the government decided to give the power back to the magistrates to take action against some irregularities and corruption regarding sending and bringing back migrant workers.
She, responding to a question, said that the government would take necessary measures to bring back former prime minister Sheik Hasina to the country, if needed for the sake of trial.
new age
