CIRDAP DG praises rural development in Bangladesh

The outgoing Director General of Center on Integrated Rural Development for Asia and the Pacific (CIRDAP), Dr Durga P Paudyal, today highly praised the rural development in Bangladesh under the able leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

"Bangladesh attained unprecedented success in rural development as well as in the ICT sector among the South Asian nations in the last three and a half years due to visionary and dynamic leadership of Sheikh Hasina," he said.

Dr Paudyal made the comments when he called on the Prime Minister at her office here today.

After the meeting, Press Secretary to the Prime Minister Abul Kalam Azad briefed reporters.

The CIRDAP director general said Bangladesh has become a role model in the world as it set up unique examples in agriculture, food security, education, health, social safety net and women empowerment.

He lauded Bangladesh's financial and technical supports for the construction of the CIRDAP International Conference Centre.

Sheikh Hasina said the topmost priority of her government is to ensure overall welfare of the people. To achieve the goal, she said, the government has been working relentlessly.

In this connection, she highlighted various achievements of her government including attaining food autarky, alleviating poverty, ensuring health and education and creating employment opportunities for the people.

Stressing the need for strengthening cooperative movement, the Prime Minister said Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman initiated the movement for rural development.

"But after the brutal assassination of Bangabandhu, successive military governments stopped the movement," she said, adding as a result, desired rural development could not be achieved in the last 40 years.

She said the present government like its previous term has taken various steps to strengthen the movement to ensure overall development of the rural people.

Sheikh Hasina also mentioned the "One House, One Farm" project for increasing agriculture production in the country. Ambassador-At-Large M Ziauddin, Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister Sheikh Md Wahid Uz Zaman, PMO Secretary Molla Waheeduzzaman and Press Secretary Abul Kalam Azad were also present.