Govt Accommodation: No allowance for private house
Prime minister Sheikh Hasina on Tuesday directed cutting the accommodation allowance of those public servants who have not availed the government facility.
She made the directive while approving a proposal to revise a project under the Rajshahi University of Engineering and Technology during an online meeting of the executive committee of the National Economic Council from her official residence Gana Bhaban.
Prime minister Sheikh Hasina
Prime minister Sheikh Hasina on Tuesday directed cutting the accommodation allowance of those public servants who have not availed the government facility.
She made the directive while approving a proposal to revise a project under the Rajshahi University of Engineering and Technology during an online meeting of the executive committee of the National Economic Council from her official residence Gana Bhaban.
Planning Division secretary Md Ashadul Islam told reporters after the meeting that many government employees preferred renting private houses as those are comparatively cheaper.
As a result, many government quarters remain vacant, he said.
According to housing ministry officials, the directive might be applicable for public servants, other than in Dhaka and Chittagong divisions, who are misusing the accommodation facility.
Director Md Abdus Sabur Mondal of the Directorate of Government Accommodation under the ministry of housing and works said that the demand for government quarters always exceeded their number in Dhaka and Chittagong cities.
He said that they did not supervise the housing facilities earmarked for officers like deputy commissioners and upazila nirbahi officers and the accommodation facilities under various directorates and departments.
Ashadul said that the Finance Division was instructed to take necessary measures to stop the misuse of the accommodation facility.
He said that the first revision of the project titled Further Development of Rajshahi Science and Technology University would increase its cost to Tk 599 crore from Tk 340 crore and extend its deadline by two years until June 2022.
Two more projects — the Installation of Pre-paid Gas Metres and the Land Acquisition for Constructing Sewerage System in Khulna Metropolis — have been placed for revision in the meeting.
Of them, the pre-paid gas metres installation project in the capital saw a second revision, raising the project cost to Tk 753.83 crore from Tk 498.94 crore and extending its deadline by two years to December 2022.
The Planning Division secretary said that the PM asked the authorities concerned to install more prepaid gas metres for domestic consumers.
She said that commercial and industrial gas consumers should also be brought under the pre-paid metre system to check misuse of gas.
The first revision of the land acquisition project for the Khulna metropolis sewerage system had increased its cost to Tk 221 crore from Tk 96.33 crore and its duration by two years to June 2019.
The PM, according to the Planning Division secretary, reasserted that revisions of projects on the pretext of changes in rate schedules would not be allowed, unless approved by the ministry of finance.
The PM also advised ensuring the use of surface water while approving a donor-funded project for supplying safe water, hand washing facilities amid COVID-19 and safe toilet use in rural areas.
Planning commission officials said that 45 lakh people would benefit from the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene project, known as the WASH project, introduced by the WHO and UINCEF in 1990.
The Department of Public Health Engineering under the Local Government Division will implement the project at a cost of Tk 1,882.59 crore in 98 upazilas under 30 districts from 2021 to 2025.
The World Bank and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank will provide Tk 1,831.76 crore in credit and the government Tk 50.82 crore for the project.
The main purpose of the project is, they said, to install about 882 hand washing stations to prevent the spread of COVID-19 virus, 3,51,270 toilets for extreme poor people and supply of piped water.
Responding to a query whether the fees for the consultants under the project are high, planning commission member Mamun-Al-Rashid replied in the negative.
He said that Tk 2,50,000 monthly, on average, for each consultant was not high.
An allocation of some Tk 72 crore has been earmarked for providing the fees to the three types of consultant under the project.
Another new project was approved in the meeting for developing rural infrastructures in Narsingdi district at an estimated cost of Tk 795.16 crore to be implemented by the Local Government Engineering Department by June 2023.
New Age
