Information Minister Dr Hasan Mahmud called upon the police members not to harass common people on streets unnecessarily.
“The government has advised the people not to roam on streets unnecessarily in view of the outbreak of coronavirus. But someone needs to go outside of home (for emergency work). So, I request the members of police not to harass anybody without any reason,” he told reporters on Friday at his Minto Road official residence here.
Hasan, also Awami League Joint General Secretary, said if required, anybody can go outside of home.
But if anyone is found roaming on the streets without any reason, the police members need to convince him or her to stay at home to keep himself or herself protected from being infected by the deadly virus, he said, adding the that Police Headquarters have given directives to police personnel at grassroots to this end.
Putting emphasis on increasing budgetary allocation for research in medical science all over the globe, the information minister said the world community today witness that how much the human beings are now helpless for invisible virus.
Around one-third of the people of the planet remain locked down now and the entire world gets stuck, he added.
Hasan said the entire world’s official expenditure on medical research is only $ 2.3 billion which is equal to the cost of making few modern military aircraft.
“We can’t fight or defeat a virus. But we’re constantly increasing military expenditure to wage a war against each other’s nations. Military expenditure has increased by 2.6 percent in 2018 compared to 2017 and it’s continuously rising,” he said.
The minister said it is the high time for the mankind that it should think about whether it will raise military expenditure or increase expenditure to ensure health safety of human beings.
“Similar viral attack may take place again in the days to come. So it is a demand of the time to boost expenditure on medical science to safeguard the public health,” he opined.
Hasan pointed out that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in her Wednesday’s nationwide address called upon the people to stay at home to protect themselves and to help the government to contain the spread of the deadly novel coronavirus (COVID-19).
