ECNEC meeting to held on Wednesday after 4 months

After nearly four months, Professor Muhammad Yunus-led interim administration would hold its first ECNEC meeting on Wednesday to endorse development projects, officials said on Saturday.

During the Sheikh Hasina government, the last meeting was held on May 28 where 11 projects were endorsed, Planning Commission (PC) officials said.

The PC is likely to place about half a dozen of fresh and ongoing projects for getting endorsement and revision from the newly framed ECNEC (Executive Committee of the National Economic Council) of the interim government, they said.

Presided over by the Chief Advisor Prof Muhammd Yunus, the meeting is likely to be held at the chief's office at State Guest House Jamuna in Dhaka on Wednesday.

"It will be the first meeting after nearly 40 days of this interim government. The meeting is likely to be held at the chief advisor's office in the city," said a PC chief.

This government is laying more emphasis on social sector development projects as the last Awami League government invested a lot in infrastructure development rather than the human development related plans, he said.

"We have already scrutinised nearly 40 pipeline projects prepared by the previous Shiekh Hasina-led government, which were scheduled to be placed before the ECNEC. Among those, only few are going to be placed at the next ECNEC meeting on September 18," another senior civil servant at the PC said.

The PC is likely to place some projects for endorsement at the ECNEC including the 2nd revision of Elenga-Hatikamrul-Rangpur four-lane road development project, land acquisition, and development for Bhanga-Faridpur-Barisal-Kuakata highways project, Matarbari port development project, the Kalurghat railway-cum-road bridge construction project, and Improvement of social services at the Chittagong hill-tracts areas for sustainable development project.

Meanwhile, the Sheikh Hasina government undertook most of the projects on political consideration, bypassing the priority development areas in Bangladesh, the PC officials said.

Even in the last ECNEC meeting on May 28, the Sheikh Hasina-headed ECNEC approved 11 projects including the much-criticised Rohingya related project at a combine cost of Tk 143.37 billion.

The Sheikh Hasina government before the last national election on November 2023, approved 25 projects in one sitting at the ECNEC violating the government rules and regulations.

Out of the 25, nine were politically motivated as those are supposed to be implemented by the Local Government and Engineering Department for constructing village roads.

Most of the approved projects in that meeting did not conduct a feasibility study, PC officials said.

In October-November period last year, the Sheikh Hasina administration endorsed dozens of projects on political motivation, the PC officials added.