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BUDGET-DISCUSSION-TWO
Bangladesh had drowned in the darkness after the BNP-Jammat came to power in 2001 led by Begum Khaleda Zia, said ruling party lawmaker and Awami League joint general secretary Mahbubul Alam Hanif, but the country now has reached to the highway of development under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
Awami League lawmaker Yusuf Abdullah Harun said many critics alleged that development activities are taking place in the country, but employment is not being created.
But, he said the thing is that huge activities are being occurred in the country’s e-commerce sector, which will be multi billion dollar market soon and will exceed the RMG sector in the future, creating employment opportunities for millions of people.
Discussing on the proposed budget, former president of the apex business body Harun underscored the need for bringing a reform in the National Board of Revenue (NBR) and not giving scopes of whitening black money in the budget.
“We are giving a foundation …so that the country becomes a developed one by 2041”, said Jatiya Party lawmaker Anisul Islam Mahmud.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina already has been able to convince the people regarding the development, he said, adding that the ongoing development has created a positive impact for the last ten years not only among the local people but also among the people abroad, said the Jatiya party leader.
Anisul, however, told the House political stability, foreign investment, curbing corruption and reshuffle of the tax department officials are needed to implement the mega budget.
Terming the proposed budget is hard to implement, Mahmud said our tax-GDP efficiency is only 9 to 10 per cent, adding that we need to recruit more efficient manpower in entire administration and it is time to think about it.
Taking part in the budget discussion, Jatiya Party lawmaker Mujibul Haque urged the government to procure rice directly from the farmers instead of the middlemen so that farmers can get fair price of their crops.
He demanded formation of an independent commission to find out the defaulted money through conducting inquiries against the loan defaulters.
Suggesting the increase in budgetary allocation for the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, the lawmaker requested for giving car facilities to the High Court judges and additional district judges working at grassroots level.
Mujibul requested the Finance Minister for imposing 50 percent Value Added Tax on cigarette to cut tobacco consumption aiming to protect public health.
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