Ensure quick implementation of dev projects

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday asked civil servants to ensure quick implementation of the government's development programmes with honesty and sincerity and thus steer the country towards prosperity.

She made the directive while addressing the fifth founding anniversary of the BCS Women Network at the capital's Bangabandhu International Conference Centre.

Expressing her resolve to build a better world, Hasina said all will have to "sacrifice their present" for the brighter future of the next generation.

Hasina said the government has taken various programmes for the development of the rural economy. "If we can not strengthen the rural economy, the industrialisation will be pointless," she added.

She also emphasised that it was not possible to have a developed society or a country without the development of women who constitute the country's half of the population.

"In 2009, we formulated the Women Policy…we made it clear that the government will never enact any law that goes against the Holy Quran and Sunnah, but we have to ensure the rights of women," she said, adding that 90 percent people of the country are Muslims and Islam is a religion of peace.

Hasina mentioned that Islam is the only religion that ensures the rights of women from father's and husband's side. "Sometimes, there is a move to keep us behind the curtain in the name of religion," she regretted.

Finance Minister AMA Muhith and State Minister for Public Administration Ismat Ara Sadique were present at the function as special guests.