Those working for nation to be honoured: PM

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina poses with the recipients of Swadhinata Padak '16 after handing over at the Osmani Memorial Auditorium in city on Thursday.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina poses with the recipients of Swadhinata Padak '16 after handing over at the Osmani Memorial Auditorium in city on Thursday.
block
UNB, Dhaka :
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Thursday said those working silently across the country for the nation will be honoured in the future and her government is working to collect their names.
“Many people working silently for the nation across rural Bangladesh go unnoticed, and our government is working to collect their names to honour them in the future,” she said. The Prime Minister said this while distributing the ‘Swadhinata Purashkar 2016’, the highest state award, at a function at the Osmani Memorial Auditorium in the city.
Sheikh Hasina urged all to work together to build this country imbued with the Liberation War spirit as it is the responsibility of all to achieve the cherished goal. “We’ve gained this hard-earned independence through the blood of millions of martyrs and we want the benefits of independence to reach every doorstep of Bangladesh…our main goal is to ensure a beautiful life for all,” she added.
She said Bangladesh will surely move ahead overcoming all barriers and huddles in the days to come to have its position on the global stage as a victorious nation. “I’ve the firm confidence we’ll be able to make the country a prosperous one, and no one will be able to suppress us. I believe, we’ ll be able to overcome all the barriers and make a prosperous country where there will be no hungry people and this who we’ll repay the debt of the millions of martyrs,” she said.
Hasina said, a nation must have a course of direction, vision and philosophy for development as Awami League has floated the vision outlining the nation’s development by 2021 and 2041. Turing to poverty alleviation, the Prime Minister said her government, since taking
 office in 2009, has been making relentless efforts for the socio-economic development of the country. Five crore people came out of abject poverty and graduated to the lower middle-income class.
“We’ll reduce the poverty rate further to make the country free from poverty, Insha Allah,” she said. Extending her heartfelt congratulations to the Independence Award recipients, the Prime Minister said these eminent persons and organisations have contributed a lot to different spheres of the national life, including the Liberation War, literature, culture and development.
She hoped the new generation will follow the footsteps of the Independent Award recipients. Since 2009 to 2015, the Prime Minister said, some 55 eminent personalities and four organisations were honoured with the Independence Award for their outstanding contributions to independence, liberation war and various fields of national life.
Besides, she said, some 327 foreign friends and 11 organisations were honoured over the years for their contributions to the Liberation War. “I think it is our duty to honour those who have stood beside us during our Liberation War,” the Prime Minister said, adding, “I firmly believe we’ll be able to turn Bangladesh as a developed one. Let’s repay the debt of millions of martyrs.”
block