Staff Reporter :
The Disaster Management and Relief Ministry owes the Power Development Board (PDB) and Dhaka Electric Supply Company Tk 76.26 crore as outstanding electric bills for the Urdu speaking people accumulated over the years.
The Power Division on behalf of the power utilities requested the Ministry on December 20 to pay the bills.
A PDB official said that the amount of electric bills was accumulated because of partial payment by the authorities concerned.
Disaster Management Ministry Secretary Shah Kamal said that the ministry used to pay the electric bills regularly from the government’s annual budget allocation and there were some pending electric bills which would be paid on completion of an ongoing calculation.
The Ministry is now thinking whether it would pay the utility bills for the Urdu speaking people’s camps in future citing the grounds that the Urdu speaking people were no more refugees, but Bangladeshi citizens following a Supreme Court verdict.
Shah Kamal said that the ministry would take a decision on the issue after receiving the copy of the Supreme Court verdict.
According to a Disaster Management Document, 46,877 of the 147,730 Urdu speaking people in the refugee camps have obtained National identity Cards.
Officials said that the Ministry, who are responsible for the payment of utility bills of the camps, owed the Power Board about Tk 36.79 crore as outstanding electric bills for eight camps outside Dhaka as of September.
They said that the Ministry owed the Electric Supply Company Tk 39.46 crore as outstanding electric bills for the camps in Dhaka as of October.
In 2004, power utilities snapped power connections of all the refugee camps without any consultation with the government or Disaster Management Ministry, Urdu Speaking Peoples Youth Rehabilitation Movement President Sadaqat Khan recalled.
Later, the High Court, following a writ petition, asked the authorities concerned to resume power supplies to the camps, he said.
Sadaqat demanded that the government should allow them to live in the camps until they get back their houses and properties, occupied by Bengalis after the country’s War for Independence in 1971.
The Urdu speaking people migrated to the then East Pakistan from India’s Bihar, Orissa, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal mainly in two phases – after 1947 riot and 1965 war between India and Pakistan.
After Bangladesh’s War for Independence, majority of the Urdu speaking people wanted to be repatriated to Pakistan. With a very few exceptions, Pakistan refused their demand.
On security reasons, a major portion of the Urdu speaking people have been accommodated in the refugee camps jointly run by the Bangladesh government and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Others have merged with the Bengali dominant society.
In 2008, the Supreme Court stated that all members of the Urdu-speaking community were nationals of Bangladesh with the right to vote and have identity cards.
The Disaster Management and Relief Ministry owes the Power Development Board (PDB) and Dhaka Electric Supply Company Tk 76.26 crore as outstanding electric bills for the Urdu speaking people accumulated over the years.
The Power Division on behalf of the power utilities requested the Ministry on December 20 to pay the bills.
A PDB official said that the amount of electric bills was accumulated because of partial payment by the authorities concerned.
Disaster Management Ministry Secretary Shah Kamal said that the ministry used to pay the electric bills regularly from the government’s annual budget allocation and there were some pending electric bills which would be paid on completion of an ongoing calculation.
The Ministry is now thinking whether it would pay the utility bills for the Urdu speaking people’s camps in future citing the grounds that the Urdu speaking people were no more refugees, but Bangladeshi citizens following a Supreme Court verdict.
Shah Kamal said that the ministry would take a decision on the issue after receiving the copy of the Supreme Court verdict.
According to a Disaster Management Document, 46,877 of the 147,730 Urdu speaking people in the refugee camps have obtained National identity Cards.
Officials said that the Ministry, who are responsible for the payment of utility bills of the camps, owed the Power Board about Tk 36.79 crore as outstanding electric bills for eight camps outside Dhaka as of September.
They said that the Ministry owed the Electric Supply Company Tk 39.46 crore as outstanding electric bills for the camps in Dhaka as of October.
In 2004, power utilities snapped power connections of all the refugee camps without any consultation with the government or Disaster Management Ministry, Urdu Speaking Peoples Youth Rehabilitation Movement President Sadaqat Khan recalled.
Later, the High Court, following a writ petition, asked the authorities concerned to resume power supplies to the camps, he said.
Sadaqat demanded that the government should allow them to live in the camps until they get back their houses and properties, occupied by Bengalis after the country’s War for Independence in 1971.
The Urdu speaking people migrated to the then East Pakistan from India’s Bihar, Orissa, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal mainly in two phases – after 1947 riot and 1965 war between India and Pakistan.
After Bangladesh’s War for Independence, majority of the Urdu speaking people wanted to be repatriated to Pakistan. With a very few exceptions, Pakistan refused their demand.
On security reasons, a major portion of the Urdu speaking people have been accommodated in the refugee camps jointly run by the Bangladesh government and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Others have merged with the Bengali dominant society.
In 2008, the Supreme Court stated that all members of the Urdu-speaking community were nationals of Bangladesh with the right to vote and have identity cards.
