Lawmakers on Sunday said coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccination has been introduced in the country on priority basis and this is a ‘rare opportunity’ compared to many other countries in the world.
“Bangladesh is one of 22 most privileged countries in the world which are getting the opportunity of corona vaccination,” said State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shahriar Alam while taking part in the general discussion on a thanksgiving motion on the President’s speech in the House here.
Alam said many countries in the world so far didn’t get the vaccine, but Bangladesh got it due to time-befitting initiative of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
He said 34 rich countries in the world still didn’t get the COVID-19 vaccine though the deadly virus infected 10 crore people across the world and 21 lakh people died since the pandemic began in December 2019 in Wuhan city in China.
Citing the name of developed countries like Hungary and Bolivia, the state minister said, Hungary, a rich European country, has sought 5,000 vaccines to Bangladesh and another South American country Bolivia also requested Bangladesh for providing vaccines.
To fight against the pandemic, Information Minister Dr Hasan Mahmud said, the government led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has announced incentives of Taka 1,21,353 crore and 21 stimulus packages for recovering the economy from the ongoing disaster.
In addition to this, food assistance has also been provided to 7 crore people and 1.25 crore people have been brought under social safety net coverage, he added.
Bitterly criticizing the activities of BNP-Jamaat, Dr Hasan Mahmud said many ruling party leaders, including ministers and three central committee members, died of corona virus, but the BNP-Jamaat leaders were not seen to help people during the pandemic.
Sheikh Fazlul Karim Selim said, “Bangladesh secured top position among the South Asian countries and 3rd among Asian countries under the time-befitting leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina during the COVID-19 pandemic.
About housing facilities for the rural poor, Selim, lawmaker from Gopalganj-2, told the parliament that as per the pledge of providing houses to homeless people marking the ‘Mujib Borsho’, a total of 70,000 poor have already got houses from the government on January 23.
Participating in the discussion, Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Imran Ahmad said, although the corona pandemic has created a challenge for the economy, steps are underway to develop skilled manpower for overseas jobs.
The lawmakers thanked President Abdul Hamid for elaborating the development and progress of the country which have taken place during the tenure of the present government.
The lawmakers highlighted the successes of the present government in different vital sectors like education, power, agriculture, health, infrastructure development, economy and food production.
Treasury bench lawmakers State Minister for Culture Affairs KM Khalid, Masududdin Chowdhury, Begum Khodeza Nasrin Akhter, Bssonti Chakma, Begum Lutfunnesa Khanam, Gloria Jharna Sarker, Shariful Islam Jinnah, Shamima Akhter, Habiba Rahman Khan, Begum Monira Sultana, Jakia Parvin Khanam, Begum Ferdousi Islam, Begum Umme Fatema Nazma, Hasan Imam Khan, Abu Zahir, BNP lawmaker GM Siraj and Workers Party lawmaker Mostafa Lutfullah, also took part in the discussion.
The lawmakers also thanked the President for giving a timely speech highlighting the successful stories of the government and guiding the nation towards peace, progress and prosperity.
Earlier, they paid a rich tribute to Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman for his contribution to establishing an independent Bangladesh.
