Don't want anymore projects named after me: PM Hasina
I will not approve the use of my name in any development project, she said while approving a project regarding land acquisition, development and construction of basic infrastructure to establish Sheikh Hasina Medical University in Khulna at a meeting of the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec)
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Thursday (9 May) said she doesn't want any other establishment or project to be named after herself.
"I will not approve the use of my name in any development project," she said while approving a project to acquire land, develop, and construct basic infrastructure for Sheikh Hasina Medical University in Khulna during an Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) meeting.
Planning Division Secretary Satyajit Karmakar informed the matter to journalists during a press conference held in the NEC conference room in the city's Sher-e Bangla Nagar.
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The secretary said the prime minister expressed her discomfort with the idea of having the medical university named after her in Khulna and instructed to avoid using her name.
However, following requests from several ministers and secretaries and legal complexities, permission was granted to use her name at Khulna Medical University.
"There will be many complications if the prime minister's name is removed from the Khulna Medical University because the Parliament has already passed the act," he added.
The secretary also mentioned that the prime minister instructed to use the funds designated for installing a mural at the medical university for a different sector.
10 projects get Ecnec nod
Ecnec approved 10 development projects on Thursday, including the Tk1,875-crore one to establish the medical university in Khulna by December 2026.
The total estimated cost of the 10 projects is Tk5,563.68 crore. Of the amount, the government will finance Tk5,203.21 crore and the rest Tk360.47 crore will come from foreign sources.
The ten projects include eight new schemes and two revised projects.
"Among the 10 projects approved today, one important project is to set up a burn unit in Chattogram, for the first time outside Dhaka," said Planning Minister Abdus Salam while briefing reporters after the meeting.
According to the Planning Commission, the burn unit project will be implemented at Chittagong Medical College Hospital at the cost of Tk284.75 crore by December 2025.
The other six new projects are — 'Capacity Building of Statistics Service Based on Platform' project involving Tk144.07 crore; 'Development of Important Rural Infrastructures in Pirojpur and Jhalakathi districts' with Tk1,100 crore; Development of Important Rural Infrastructures in Barishal district' with Tk1,000 crore; 'Programme for Sustainability in the Textile and Leather Sector (STILE)' project with Tk81.44 crore; 'Construction of a new modern Circuit House Bhaban in place of existing one in Dhaka district' with Tk334.46 crore; and 'Construction of different infrastructures for Border Guard Bangladesh's newly created Gazipur Battalion (63 BGB)' with Tk223.02 crore.
The Ecnec cleared two revised projects, increasing the cost by Tk527.77 crore for the 'Conversion of Wet Process to Dry Process of Chhatak Cement Company Limited (CCCL), Chhatak, Sunamgonj (2nd revised)' project; and slashing the cost by Tk6.4 crore for Urban Resilience Project (URP): DDM Portion (3rd revised).
