Hiren Pandit: After successfully implementing the promise of building Digital Bangladesh, Bangladesh is now moving forward with a new program. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is working relentlessly towards the implementation of SDGs by 2030 and building a Smart Bangladesh by 2041. Today’s students will one day face the challenges of the fourth industrial revolution and build a smart Bangladesh. A cost-effective, sustainable, intelligent, knowledge-based, innovative Smart Bangladesh will be built on the four main foundations of Smart Citizen, Smart Economy, Smart Government and Smart Society.
As per the information of the Election Commission, the number of new voters in this year’s national elections has increased to 1 crore 54 lakh 52 thousand 953 people. Those who voted for the first time in the national elections chose the legislators of the country for the next 5 years. Bangladesh Awami League announced the manifesto ahead of the 12th national parliament election.
The slogan of this year’s manifesto is ‘Smart Bangladesh: Where Development Shines Accelerating Employment’. Awami League has prioritized 11 issues by promising to build a smart Bangladesh. Creation of employment, keeping the price of goods within the purchasing power, establishing consistency between incomes, keeping the youth and youth society involved in the transformation and development of the country, taking measures against capital smugglers, eliminating bribery and corruption, bringing debt-tax-evasion and confiscating the illegal assets of the corrupt.
The government is creating various job opportunities for the youth. Also taking important steps to ensure specific jobs. Everyone should come forward for employment and self-employment. It is now imperative for us to do this. Transforming unemployed youth into manpower through skill development training and creating employment opportunities for them.
Bangabandhu has taken and implemented various steps to establish Bangladesh as Sonar Bangla by providing youth with training in various professions and employment. Following the footsteps of the father of the nation, the Awami League government is working tirelessly to make Bangladesh a developed country by 2041. The guidelines for our development are to become a middle-income country, to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030, and to build a developed, prosperous, and smart Bangladesh by 2041.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina participated in the ‘Let’s Talk’ program with the youth organized by CRI during the elections. The Prime Minister answered various questions of the youth. Prime Minister’s speech on giving a key role to youth and youth in building Smart Bangladesh. Keeping in mind the theme of Smart Bangladesh among the 11 issues that have been given special priority in the election manifesto of Bangladesh Awami League, the second number has been said to be employable education and employment of the youth. It is a joy for a youngster. As a young person, youth talk with other young people about the various relevance of the country. Everyone’s opinions, desires, needs, and dreams about Bangladesh are slowly being realized. Everyone supports this overwhelming progress in Bangladesh.
How was Bangladesh before and how is it now? To those who are born now, it is natural that the words of the past may seem like stories in this modern society. Because today’s Bangladesh is a role model of development in the world. Bangladesh is now a wonderful country in the world. Bangladesh is keeping pace with the developed countries of the world in terms of development progress. People’s living standards are improving. In all indicators, the country is moving forward as an indomitable Bangladesh. Now the basic needs of people are being fulfilled. The education rate is increasing. The country is coming under a hundred percent electricity. Not only in the history of the country but also in the history of South Asia, the best mega projects have been implemented in Bangladesh and many projects are being implemented.
To build a smart Bangladesh, the government is giving importance to developing the young society as highly skilled manpower in education, knowledge, and technology and a smart population, smart government, smart economy, smart society, and digital devices. Due to the availability of the internet and smartphones, all government services are available quickly and at home. What used to take a lot of money, labor and time can now be done at home with a single click. The energy of youth is acting as the main representation of smart and modern Bangladesh. The cooperation of the youth in building a Smart Bangladesh hopes for the continuation of the current government. The Youths will act as the vanguard of the implementation of the grand plan given by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to achieve the status of a high-income country in 2041.
The glorious event or chapter in the history of the thousand years of the Bengali nation is the liberation war of 1971. The fresh blood of 3 million martyrs and the unlimited sacrifices of millions of mothers and sisters earned our freedom through 9 months of war in 1971. After 23 years of agitation and 9 months of armed war, the victory was won by defeating the Pakistani invaders on 16 December. Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the greatest son of Bengali for a thousand years, the greatest Bengali of all time, and the great hero of history made the dream of Bengal a reality.
Youth is a life force, which is the dream of Bangladesh full of endless possibilities and colorful dreams. The thoughts of the youth will be the thoughts of Bangladesh, the thoughts of opening up new horizons about Bangladesh, and the radical thoughts of the youth will be about Bangladesh. The work of the youth will be the work of Bangladesh. All dreams should be about Bangladesh.
The youth have a glorious role in all the democratic struggles and liberation wars of Bangladesh. Demographic changes in 2041 will see nearly half of the population under 30 years of age; The number of youth in the age group of 15-29 years will be more or less 2 crore. We need to keep these young people involved in the transformation and development of Bangladesh. Employment opportunities will be expanded for able-bodied, qualified youth. Training will be given to 3.1 lakh youth in the district and upazila and the program will continue to provide support for their self-employment. Steps have been taken to create employment for an additional 1.5 million people by 2030.
Highlighting the statistics of unemployed youth, Sheikh Hasina said that the rate of unemployed youth will be reduced from the latest rate of 10.6 percent to 3.0 percent by 2028. Adequate technical training is being provided to illiterate and low-educated youth and youth. Continuation of micro-credit facility on easy terms for trained self-employed entrepreneurs and increase in loan amount. The National Service Program will be gradually expanded to all upazilas of the country to create employment for the youth.
For the intellectual development of the youth, libraries will be established in each upazila, democratic, cultural and physical training centers and ‘Smart Youth Hubs’ will be developed. Entrepreneurs will be assisted by setting up special cells to provide loans on easy terms and low interest from various commercial banks, specialized banks and financial institutions through the revolving loan fund of Youth Development Department. Schemes will be undertaken to bring underprivileged, disabled and physically challenged youths under educational and medical assistance.
The work of developing the Sheikh Hasina National Youth Development Institute as a center for excellence will continue through the development of infrastructure and the recruitment of adequate manpower. Loans on soft terms, necessary subsidies, technical advice and policy support will be provided for setting up commercial dairy and poultry farms for employment generation.
At the village level, agricultural machinery service centers, and workshops will be set up to expand rural mechanization services including machinery repair, and through these, productive employment programs will be expanded by training rural youth and agricultural entrepreneurs. In addition to all these, investment assistance in loans and materials to private sector marginal and small entrepreneurs to manufacture and market light machinery will continue.
To create employment for the youth, the National Service Program will be gradually expanded to all upazilas of the country. To strengthen the training program at the grassroots level, the ‘Youth Training and Employment Center’ will be established in every upazila. To ensure the overall welfare of the youth, programs have been launched in all the districts and upazilas of the country to motivate the youth, provide training, and self-reliance by taking post-training self-employment projects, providing youth loans, poverty alleviation etc.
Therefore, intending to build a smart Bangladesh by 2041, the young people have voted in the election to build a smart Bangladesh by leading the country in the hands of Bangladesh Awami League.
The writer is a, columnist and a researcher