The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) yesterday approved a project of Tk 943 crore to create employment for 10-20 women in each union with a daily payment of Tk 90-180.
A meeting of the Ecnec with Chief Adviser Fakhruddin Ahmed in the chair approved a total of 14 projects involving Tk 2,815 crore, of which Tk 2,383 crore will be spent for generating employment in rural areas.
The meeting also discussed reluctance of contractors in completing projects that has been hampering implementation of the Annual Development Programme (ADP).
A committee led by a member of the Planning Commission was formed at the meeting to submit a report on the matter by April 18 incorporating possible ways to resolve the crisis.
The approved project titled “Rural Employment and Road Maintenance Project” will begin in the current fiscal year and run until 2013 with an expectation to create employment for 49,000 women in rural areas, sources said.
Briefing newsmen after the meeting, Planning Secretary Jafar Ahmed Chowdhury said he hopes that rural economy will get a boost through the project.
He said each woman will get Tk 70,000 in five years of the project and it has been made mandatory for each woman to deposit 35 percent of the payments in banks.
Woman day labourers will get Tk 90 each daily while the coordinators will get Tk 180 each.
Asked about the types of work, Jafar said woman labourers will be responsible for the maintenance of roads in rural areas, planting trees on both sides of the roads and maintaining those.
Of the 14 approved projects, 10 are related to rural infrastructure development like development of water supply system in cyclone hit areas, rural infrastructure development in Khulna, Bagerhat, Satkhira and greater Noakhali, roads development projects at union levels in Dhaka, Narayanganj, Gazipur, Narsingdi, Manikganj, Patuakhali, Barguna, and development of rural roads and markets in greater Sylhet.
The rest three projects were approved for renovation and maintenance of urea fertiliser factories.
The Ecnec yesterday sent back a project for establishing at least one wholesale market of agriculture products in each union across the country so that farmers can get fair price of their products.
The Local Government Division had placed the proposal saying the government would set up only shades for the markets, but the Ecnec members asked the Local Government Division to include options like mechanism so that farmers can get information about the prices of products in other markets.
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