Fight against corruption to continue: PM

Reiterating her government’s firm stance against
corruption, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina today said the government will
continue its fight against graft to keep up the country’s development spree
and uphold its achievements.

“Though it’s not possible for any country to root out cent percent
corruption, it’s a responsibility of our government to check corruption so
that it cannot impede the uplift of the country and ruin our all successes,”
she said while exchanging views with senior officials of the Prime Minister’s
Office (PMO) on the first working day of her office at the PMO after her
reelection as the prime minister for the fourth time.

The premier continued: “Our war to stamp out terrorism, graft and narcotics
will continue”.

Sheikh Hasina said once the incidents of tender hijacking took place
frequently in the country. “But, we’ve been able to free the country from
this curse…the success came due to the use of technology and it’s a good
result of Digital Bangladesh,” she added.

Asking the public servants to give more labour for the country’s
development, the prime minister said: “All will have to work hard and this
labour will be an achievement of the people who are our near and dear ones”.

“We want to build Bangladesh as a developed and prosperous nation…we have
already got the recognition of the developing country and this achievement
will have to be retained,” she said.

Extending thanks to the government officials for their cooperation, Sheikh
Hasina said whenever her government came to power, it received sincere
cooperation of the public servants.

“We were able to complete all the development works fast due to cooperation
of all government officials and thus advanced the country rapidly,” she said.

Stressing the need for making the country self-reliant in all fields, the
premier said Bangladesh will have to move keeping pace with the world.

“We shouldn’t be dependent on others….we’ll have to stand on our own feet,”
she said.

Sheikh Hasina urged all to stay alert so that the anti-liberation forces
never come to power. “We want that whoever comes to power they will believe
in the spirit and thought of independence and the country will move ahead
through it.”

She said the world people now see Bangladesh in the eyes of honour due to
its tremendous development. “But, once we had to hear that Bangladesh means a
country of flood, cyclone and famine, which always hurt our self-dignity…we
couldn’t tolerate it,” she said.

“From that time, I took a vow that none can undermine us. We earned
independence through the liberation war and we will move keeping our head
high,” she said.

Sheikh Hasina said: “Even Pakistani people were surprised to see our stunning development and they want their country to be developed like Bangladesh. Nothing can make you happier than such reports?”

The prime minister said those who grabbed power illegally after 1975 did not think of serving the people. “But as a political party, the Awami League think of how much work we could do for the people and whatever we did for them was because of that thinking,” she said.

Sheikh Hasina directed the government officials to complete the ongoing development projects fast and said that she will start visiting the ministries soon like her previous tenures to infuse further dynamism into their work.

The prime minister also reiterated her determination to make Bangladesh a middle income country by 2021 and a developed and prosperous one by 2041.

She asked the officials to take massive preparations to celebrate the Mujib Barsho in 2020-2021 in a befitting manner and conduct campaign massively in this regard.

PM’s Advisers HT Imam, Dr Moshiur Rahman, Dr Towfik-e-Elahi Chowdhury and Major General (retd) Tarique Ahmed Siddiq and Principal Coordinator on the SDG Affairs at the PMO Md Abul Kalam Azad also spoke at the function moderated by PM’s Principal Secretary Md Nojibur Rahman.

Earlier, the advisers and officials of different wings of the PMO, including PM’s principal secretary, military secretary, PMO secretary, press secretary, director general of the SSF and other directors general greeted the prime minister by presenting her with bouquets separately.