Dhaka Bureau: Due to the government’s cost-cutting policy, the decision of two new divisions named Padma and Meghna has been postponed. Law Minister Anisul Haque told reporters after the meeting of the National Implementation Committee (NICA) related to administrative restructuring at the Prime Minister’s office on Sunday (November 27).
He said that in the meeting chaired by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, two proposals were postponed for the current year.
The minister said that except the proposal of the department, the rest of the agenda has been approved. In the afternoon, the Cabinet Secretary will hold a press conference and give details.
With the aim of reducing the pressure on Dhaka and Chittagong divisions and administrative decentralization, the formation of new divisions is being discussed since almost a decade ago. Padma Division with 5 districts of Greater Faridpur of Dhaka Division – Faridpur, Shariatpur, Rajbari, Gopalganj and Madaripur.
Besides Comilla, Brahmanbaria, Chandpur, Noakhali, Feni and Lakshmipur – these six districts form the Meghna Division. There is opposition from various quarters including BNP to exclude the name Comilla and name it as Meghna. In the meantime, the government has suspended the proposed two departments.
The country currently has 8 administrative divisions. All of them are named after the respective major cities. This is the first time that the department is going to be named outside the name of the local city. If these two departments are approved, the total number of departments will be 10.
It is known that if the department is divided into two, at least 1 thousand crores and at least 2000 crores are needed initially. Also, at least 28 new offices had to be opened in each department. Those offices involve many ancillary matters including manpower. In the current economic situation, the government is giving importance to the allocation of funds for development work. Therefore, the work of the new department has been postponed till the next financial year.
