Implement govt-issued Covid directives at field level: PM Hasina to DCs

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina today gave 24-point directives to the deputy commissioners (DCs) to ensure the country's overall development as she inaugurated the much-awaited three-day annual conference.

The premier instructed the DCs to ensure the implementation of the government-issued Covid-19 health safety protocols at field level to curb infections and deaths. 

"The country will advance continuously. I call upon you to focus on some issues out of the huge tasks you are doing," she said.

The prime minister opened the conference as the chief guest joining virtually from her official Ganabhaban residence here.

She thanked the Cabinet Division for arranging the DCs conference amid the Covid-19 pandemic as the conference was not held in the last two years due to the lethal virus situation.

The conference began at the Osmani Memorial Auditorium here with the presence of 15 ministers and secretaries in the inaugural ceremony due to the fresh surge of Covid-19.

A video documentary on services to ensure people's welfare and works for implementing all the development plans of the government across the country by the field level administrations was screened on the occasion.

Liberation War Affairs Minister AKM Mozammel Haque, Cabinet Secretary Khandker Anwarul Islam, and PM's Principal Secretary Dr Ahmad Kaikaus addressed the conference.

Divisional Commissioner of Khulna Ismail Hossain, Deputy Commissioners of Chandpur and Rangpur Anjana khan Majlish and Asif Ahsan also spoke on the occasion, on behalf of the divisional commissioners and DCs, respectively.

The prime minister asked the DCs to discharge their duties with the mindset of serving the people following the path of truth and justice for ensuring the welfare of the commoners while issuing directives to the DCs.

The premier's directives to the DCs are:

• Ensuring implementation of government directives to face coronavirus crisis
• Ensuring proper implementation and continuation of development and service-oriented activities that have been taken marking the birth centenary of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and observing Mujib Borsho.
• Ensuring implementation of various programmes that have been taken for ensuring food security and stable market price
• Ensuring hassle-free services in due time from public offices
• Expediting activities to attain goals that are fixed under SDGs localisation
• Ensuring that the genuine distressed, helpless, and deprived marginal people can avail of all social safety-net programmes, including houses for homeless and distribution of agricultural lands among landless people
• Taking initiatives to improve academic activities in educational institutions. Take initiative for continuation of online classes during COVID-19. Giving special attention to the educational institutions of remote areas
• Supervising round the clock all community clinics and union health and family welfare centres and creating health awareness among people
• Ensuring sports and cultural activities and practice of creativeness in every area for flourishing physical and mental of children
• Taking initiatives to set up new parks and fields apart of preserving existing parks and spirits fields in districts and upazilas
• Working for creating skilled manpower equipped with high-tech knowledge to take highest facility from the fourth industrial revolution keeping the pace with evolving world
• Working to ensure safe use of information technology and the internet and taking initiative for containing the misuse of social media and spreading rumours using it.
• Taking a firm stance against religious extremism and militancy aiming to maintain the heritage of Bangladesh's religious harmony and secularism
• Continuing zero tolerance policy against drugs for building a drug-free society and maintaining regular anti-drug drives.
• Ensuring proper legal steps for stopping violence, torture and shunning hostile attitude towards women and children, and conducting mobile court regularly against child marriage, eve-teasing, food adulteration, making fake products
• Strengthening the monitoring of market systems for smooth product supply, resist artificial crises and keep the prices normal.
• Taking stern action for protecting natural reservoirs, hills, forests, rivers and government lands. Giving highest importance on the vertical expansion of public structures for optimum usage of lands.
• Taking special initiatives for flourishing and preserving of tourism industry alongside setting up of new tourism spots
• Taking initiatives for preserving heritage and culture and district-based famous products' publicity and marketing
• Taking initiatives to elevate Bangladesh to a developed country by 2041 through proper coordination of various activities of all public offices of the districts
• Working together with public representatives while taking development programmes and implementing them. Giving special attention towards taking equal development programmes, and removing irregularities and corruption from the ongoing programmes. Supervising these programmes for maintaining standards.
• Taking steps for ensuring overall development of the underprivileged communities of society through ensuring their facilities, including housing.
• Taking effective measurers to look after the families of martyrs of the genocide during the Liberation War, ensuring their proper and dignified livelihoods.
• Preserving mass graves and battlefields of the Liberation War after identifying those. Highlighting the history of the Liberation War before people.