The Bangladesh cabinet yesterday approved a draft of the Expatriate Welfare Board Act, 2017 in line with other international laws and the international convention on protection of migrants and their family members.
The draft bill has given a legal framework to the issue of expatriate Bangladeshis, including female migrants, getting necessary assistance and co-operation by when they will be in trouble like illness and death, cabinet secretary M Shafiul Alam told reporters.
He added that authorities concerned will have to extend legal or other kind of assistance in favour of expatriate Bangladeshis to realise compensation for any kind of his or her loss.
The cabinet also approved a proposal for the inclusion of March 25 in the circular issued by the cabinet division that declared the day as the Mass Killing Day to observe nationally and internationally.
It approved the draft of Urban and Zone Planning Bill, 2017 aimed at bringing discipline in land management and restricting the misuse of land in
Bangladesh.
The regular weekly meeting was held at the Bangladesh Secretariat with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair.
The bill proposes mandatory official clearance for building houses in rural areas as well as use of land across the country.
Provisions of five-year prison term and a 5mn taka fine have been kept as penalties for
offenders.
The law proposes a 27-member high-level advisory council led by the housing and public works minister, which will be responsible to supervise the urban development directorate or its executive council.
“The 25-member executive council will be headed by the public works secretary,” said Alam.
The minister-led panel will act as a policymaking body, while the executive council will be in charge of implementing those.
“Official clearance from the advisors’ council will be required for using lands for every government and private organizations as well as individuals,” said the secretary.
He, however, said the council will be able to empower any government organization to issue clearances.
The cabinet also approved in principle the draft of the Textile Act, 2017, aiming to bring the textile industry under a legal framework as industries are running under administrative orders of the government, said Alam.
All the industries related to textiles like garment factories, production and marketing industries of textiles must be registered with the directorate of textiles, he said, adding that the directorate will look after, supervise and monitor textile industries.
The meeting also endorsed in principle the draft of the Pesticides Bill, 2017 giving the Pesticide Ordinance 1979 and its amended versions of 2007 and 2009 a legal framework making them more time-befitting ones.
The cabinet also approved the draft of an agreement to be signed between Bangladesh and India over orbit frequency co-ordination of South Asia
Satellite proposed at 48’E.
The meeting also approved the proposal for signing joint interpretative notes as the supplementary part of the agreement between Bangladesh and India on bilateral capital investment development and protection.
It also approved the draft of amended policy for giving grant to research fellowship and
innovative works.
Sheikh Hasina presiding over a cabinet meeting in Dhaka yesterday.
