The interim government is considering small, people-oriented development projects to address the slow implementation of the Annual Development Programme (ADP).
According to the Planning Ministry sources, the advisers, in the last couple of ECNEC meetings, have focused on this issue to stimulate the economy, which has been largely stagnant since the fall of the Awami League government on August 5 last year.
A top official of the Planning Ministry said that the government has directed the officials concerned to pick up small projects which could be implemented very quickly, reports UNB.
"But these small projects must be beneficial to the local people greatly, this is the intention of the current government," he said.
The ECNEC meetings chaired by Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus made it clear that the government wanted to implement some good projects for the welfare of the people of the country.
In this regard, the ECNEC meetings asked the officials concerned to have discussions with the people who will be benefited by these projects.
In this connection, a planning commission official said that directives have been given to the officials to talk to local people first while taking up any development projects in a specific area.
In this connection, he mentioned that if any irrigation project has taken for a specific area it should be done through proper consultation with the local people to know about their traditional irrigation process and their attitude towards the new irrigation system.
"If the new irrigation project is designed from the capital city without involving local people, it would not bring any positive results for the users. The local people may not get involved in this project or feel encouraged to use it," he said.
According to the Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division (IMED), ADP implementation rate during the July-November period was 17.1 per cent in the 2023-24 fiscal and 18.4 per cent in the same period in 2022-23, while the rate is just 12.3 per cent for the current 2024-25 fiscal.
After the fall of the Awami League government on August 5 in the face of a student-led uprising, the interim government led by Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus was sworn in on August 8.
IMED data shows that ADP spending in the July-November period amounted to Tk 342.14 billion, compared to Tk 468.57 billion in the same period of the previous fiscal year.
IMED officials pointed to delays in the review the interim government had initiated into all ongoing and newly proposed projects, along with delays in the release of funds, as factors behind the slowdown in ADP implementation.
Additionally, many contractors abandoned projects after the interim government assumed power in early August.
