Tk 75,000 handset incentive for ministers, bureaucrats

The minster, state minister, deputy minister, secretary and acting secretary each will be entitled to Tk 75,000 for buying a cell phone.

And they will enjoy their mobile services without any limit and their bills will be paid from the exchequer.

The facilities were endorsed at a cabinet meeting on Monday.

The cabinet in fact approved a draft of 'Government Telephone, Cellular, Set and Internet Policy-2018'.

Under the policy, the amount of money fot buying a mobile phone set has been raised from Tk 15,000 to Tk 75,000.

After the meeting chaired by prime minister Sheikh Hasina at her office, cabinet secretary Mohammad Shafiul Alam briefed newsmen about the cabinet's decisions.

He said joint secretaries and additional secretaries, who used to get mobile conveyance round the year, will get Tk 1,500 a month, up from Tk 600.

It is being provided as per a 2004 policy which has just been updated.

The cabinet has also given instructions to include judges of the apex court and state affairs chief at the foreign affairs ministry into the policy, said the cabinet secretary.