Photo: Collected
The success or failure of the interim government now depends on keeping the country's law and order situation under control, Chief Adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus said at the Deputy Commissioners' (DC) Conference this morning (16 February)."Maintaining peace and order is the most important task in the current situation," the chief adviser said, adding that protecting women, children, and minorities is the government's priority.
During his speech at the Osmani Memorial Auditorium in the capital, Yunus said the entire country should be considered as one team and work accordingly. "Nothing should be done that would hamper the entire team's success." He urged the DCs to work according to their own judgment, ignoring any threats from others.
Addressing the conference, the chief adviser also announced that police verification will no longer be required to obtain a passport. Describing this verification process as harassment, he said, "A passport is my right as a citizen. It is a citizen's identity card."
"We have now enacted a law stating that police verification is not required to obtain a passport. These are not necessary. These are harassment," he said, reports Jamuna Television. Earlier this morning, Yunus inaugurated the three-day-long Deputy Commissioners' (DC) Conference at the Shapla Hall of the Chief Adviser's Office (CAO) in Dhaka.
During a press conference at the Secretariat yesterday (15 February), Cabinet Secretary Sheikh Abdur Rashid said the conference will have four special and 30 working sessions. He said these include the opening ceremony, a meeting with the chief justice, an open discussion with the chief adviser, and a meeting of the Bangladesh Administrative Service Association.
This year's conference will discuss 354 proposals from the DCs and divisional commissioners.
Although the Cabinet Division received 1,245 proposals from the divisional commissioners and DCs for the conference, many proposals were not included in the working paper due to disagreement from the concerned ministries and departments and because they were presented at the previous DC Conference, according to officials.
The main venue of the DC Conference is the Osmani Memorial Auditorium. There will be an open discussion between the chief adviser and the DCs there. In the evening, there will be a meeting between the chief adviser and the Bangladesh Administrative Service Association, followed by a dinner with the chief adviser at night.
On Monday (17 February), apart from the working sessions, the DCs will meet the chief justice at the Supreme Court auditorium. Every year, the DCs propose various facilities at the DC Conference.
However, this time, they have proposed to increase their legal powers. For this, they have asked to create the Legal Affairs Liaison Officer post in the offices of 64 DCs and eight divisional commissioners as soon as possible. The conference will conclude on 18 February.
Messenger/JRTarek
