PM funds mosques, graveyards, Eidgahs in mostly rural opposition constituencies

Local Government Minister Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Monday said Tk20 crore has been allocated from the Prime Minister's discretionary fund for the development of mosques, graveyards and Eidgahs in constituencies represented by opposition Members of Parliament.

Speaking in Parliament under Rule 300, the Minister said the allocation covers opposition-held constituencies outside city corporation areas.

"The Prime Minister has allocated nearly Tk20 crore from his discretionary fund for mosques, graveyards and Eidgahs in constituencies represented by opposition MPs, excluding those under city corporations," he told the House.

Fakhrul also said that constituencies within city corporation areas would receive similar allocations at a later stage.

His remarks came after opposition MP Saiful Alam Milon of Dhaka-12 sought to raise the issue in the House but was not given the floor by Speaker Hafiz Uddin Ahmad.

The Speaker instead allowed the Local Government Minister to respond, who clarified that the allocations for city corporation areas would be provided later through the relevant local government authorities.

Speaker Hafiz Uddin Ahmad, reflecting on his own experience as a former opposition lawmaker, said opposition MPs in the past had received no such allocation.

"I spent 40 years in this Parliament. I was also an opposition MP. I never received a single penny. I was arrested five times and went to jail—that was all I got. There was nothing else," the Speaker said.

He also remarked that, because of his responsibilities as Speaker, he was unable to raise the problems of his home district of Bhola in Parliament.

Earlier, the Leader of the Opposition had made several proposals for the development of Bhola, prompting the Speaker to thank the opposition leader for highlighting the district's needs.