A further 246 recommendations from 10 commissions (excluding constitutional commissions) have been identified as immediately implementable. This brings the total number of recommendations marked for immediately implementable to 367, of which 37 have already been implemented.
This information was disclosed on Thursday at a meeting of the Advisory Council held at the Chief Adviser’s Office in Tejgaon, Dhaka. The meeting was chaired by the Chief Adviser of the interim government, Professor Muhammad Yunus.
Later, at a press conference held at the Foreign Service Academy in Dhaka, the Chief Adviser’s Press Secretary, Shafiqul Alam, briefed the media on the meeting’s discussions.
The Press Secretary stated that last week it was reported that 121 recommendations were under implementation—of these, 16 had already been implemented, 14 had been partially implemented, and the rest were still in progress. It was reported today that that an additional 246 recommendations are under implementation, as informed to the Advisory Council.
According to the Press Secretary, 82 of the new 246 recommendations relate to labor reforms. Labour Affairs Adviser Brigadier General (retd) M Sakhawat Hossain said many of these were in the final stages of implementation, and some had already been implemented. The Women’s Affairs Reform Commission has 71 recommendations listed for implementation. In addition, there are 37 related to local government, 33 to health, and 23 to the Ministry of Information.
The Chief Adviser and other advisers at the meeting emphasised putting more effort into implementing these recommendations. Progress on this will be reported at the next meeting.
Committee to investigate purchase of surveillance equipment
The press conference also revealed that a probe committee has been formed to investigate the purchase of surveillance equipment during the tenure of the previous government, allegedly used to monitor citizens. Fayez Ahmad Taiyyeb, Special Assistant to the Chief Adviser on Posts, Telecommunications, and Information Technology, has been appointed head of the committee. The committee will investigate the total cost, source, and details of these purchases.
Regarding the surveillance equipment, the Press Secretary said preliminary reports indicate that much of it was purchased from Israel. The committee will investigate the entire matter. There is also an ongoing investigation into the purchase of lethal weapons for the police.
At the press conference, the Press Secretary said the Chief Adviser’s visit to Malaysia had been fruitful and highlighted various aspects of the trip.
Also present at the press conference were the Deputy Press Secretary to the Chief Adviser Mohammad Abul Kalam Azad Mazumder, and Senior Assistant Press Secretary Fayez Ahmed.