PMO seeks work plans of ministries, divisions

The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) has asked ministries and divisions concerned to draw up detailed work plans within next one month to construct high-rise buildings for public servants.
The unused land of state entities at different places will be used for construction of the buildings, according to officials.
The ministries and divisions will submit their respective work plans to the planning ministry. And then the ministry will place them before the PMO.
The ministries and divisions are ordered to follow the standard of designs of the Public Works Department (PWD) in drawing up the proposed plans.
The housing areas will have all modern facilities, especially ponds, playground, commodious roads etc.
As part of the move, a meeting last year had suggested forming a high-powered central steering committee to coordinate the issue of using the government's land at different places.
The meeting had also decided to send detailed information on unused land owned by different ministries and divisions to the PMO by November 15, 2016.
Besides, the steering committee was supposed to prepare a policy guideline in this regard. Next course of action will be taken as early as possible based on the guideline.
The Prime Minister already made her intention clear in this regard, a high official of the land ministry said.
When contacted, PMO director Mohd. Ahsan Kibria Siddiqui said: "We asked the ministries and divisions concerned to prepare development project proposals (DPP) separately in a bid to address the existing housing problem of government officials and employees."
The housing problem of the government employees would ease significantly on implementation of the project, he said.
The housing project will be implemented at Savar, Amin Bazar, Ashulia, Keraniganj, Tongi and Narayanganj on the outskirts of the capital city.
The officers and other staff of government offices doing their jobs in and around the capital city will get flats to be built under the project, he said.
Currently, about 92 per cent government officials of Dhaka city and adjoining areas are deprived of the housing facility.
The government has provided accommodation to only 8.0 per cent of its employees in the capital, according to data of the Ministry of Housing and Public Works.
At present, there are 148,910 government employees in Dhaka city. Of them, only 13,052 enjoy such a facility, the data shows.
"Initiatives by the ministries/divisions concerned are underway to select unused land under different ministries at Savar, Amin Bazar, Ashulia, Keraniganj, Tongi and Narayanganj" a senior land ministry official said.
The government was working on the housing facility for its all officials and employees by 2019, Planning Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal told a discussion meeting held at Dhaka Club in the city in April last year.
In October, 2016, the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) approved a project to build more than 1,000 flats for government employees in Dhaka.
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