Bangladesh ahead of six SAARC nations in sanitation, drinking water access: Shahe Alam
Bangladesh is ahead of the other six South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries in terms of sanitation and access to safe drinking water, State Minister for Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives Mir Shahe Alam told parliament on Monday.
He said the government had undertaken new projects to ensure safe drinking water for all citizens, alongside initiatives to expand community-based and household-level water facilities.
The state minister made the remarks while replying to a question from ruling party lawmaker Sherin Sultana.
He said access to safe drinking water currently ranges from 74% to 88% across different parts of the country. The government is working to achieve 100% coverage through the implementation of new projects, he added.
Responding to a separate question from NCP lawmaker Atiqur Rahman Mujahid, Shahe Alam said a government project involving around 5,500 crore taka was being implemented to ensure safe drinking water in the Barind region.
Under the project, deep and shallow tube wells will be installed in villages across Rajshahi and Rangpur divisions by 2030 to ensure access to arsenic-free drinking water, he said.
The state minister added that the government was taking necessary measures to address groundwater arsenic contamination in the region and involve local members of parliament in the initiatives.
Training planned to improve birth, death registration services
Shahe Alam said officials responsible for birth and death registration were working at union parishads, municipalities and deputy commissioners' offices across the country. However, service delivery sometimes faced delays due to server-related problems.
He made the remarks while replying to a supplementary question from ruling party lawmaker Arifa Sultana, representing reserved women's seat-30, during Monday's question-and-answer session in the Jatiya Sangsad.
The state minister said the ministry would bring some field-level officials and employees to Dhaka for training and provide them with necessary instructions to improve service delivery.
The initiative aims to improve the quality of services and ensure that citizens do not face harassment or unnecessary delays in obtaining birth and death registration certificates, he added.
Affidavits required for certain NID corrections
Replying to another starred question from Arifa Sultana on behalf of Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives Minister Dr Abdul Moyeen Khan, Shahe Alam said National Identity Cards (NIDs) were issued based on information provided by individuals during voter registration, biometric data collection and verification, and applicants' confirmation of the accuracy of their information.
He said corrections to NID information were made after verifying details against secondary school certificates.
However, applicants were required to submit affidavits in certain cases, including changes to educational qualifications from higher to lower levels, discrepancies in names or parents' names recorded in secondary school certificates, and changes to dates of birth.
The state minister said reasons for rejecting NID correction applications were recorded in official documents and the relevant system. Applicants were also notified of rejection through SMS to their registered mobile numbers.
Citizens can also check the status of their NID correction applications by calling the helpline at 105, he said.
The government is working to upgrade the system so that applicants receive SMS notifications specifying the exact reasons for the rejection of their NID correction applications, he added.