TBT DESK: The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC)on Tuesday approved 17 development projects involving an estimated cost of Tk 8,974.28 crore.
The approval came from the Ecnec meeting held at the NEC Conference Room in the city's Planning Commission with Chief Adviser and ECNEC Chairperson Dr Muhammad Yunus in the chair.
Of the total cost, Tk 3,180.34 crore will come from the government's own funds, Tk 5,563.43 crore as project assistance (loans) and the remaining Tk 230.51 crore from the funds of implementing agencies.
Of the approved 17 projects, 11 are new and 5 are revised while one project got a time extension without witnessing any expenditure.
The approved 17 projects are: Upazila Complex Expansion Project, 2nd phase, 2nd revised, Integrated services and livelihood improvement of the forcibly displaced Rohingyas and the host community, Construction of 200-bed drug addiction cure and rehabilitation centers in 7 divisional cities, Enhancing capacity of four newly built marine academies through installing simulators and other related facilities, Access to Justice for Women: strengthening community dispute resolution and improving case management, Establishment of 3rd submarine cable for expanding the international telecommunication system in Bangladesh (2nd revised), Construction of 13 new buffer godowns in 13 districts of Bangladesh for enhancing the fertilizer preservation and distribution facilities (3rd revised).
Besides, establishment of Kishore-Kishori Club (1st revised), strengthening integrated services and operations of quick response team for preventing women and children repression, TVET Teachers for the future (TTF) Programme, Countrywide Mobile Library, 3rd revised, Strengthening the development budget management system through installing a new digital database at programming division (3rd revised).
Improvement of Public Investment Management System (IPIMS), Procurement Modernization to Improve Public Service Delivery (PMIPSD), Statistical Capacity Enhancement and Modernization Project (SCEMP), Strengthening Public Audit Through Digital Transformation and Capacity Enhancement (SPADTEC) and Strengthening Domestic Revenue Mobilization Project (SDRMP) were among the projects.
Besides, the IPIMS project under the Planning Division, PMIPSD project under the IMED, SPADTEC project under the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General, SDRMP project under the National Board of Revenue (NBR) and SCEMP project under the Bureau of Statistics (BBS) would be implemented as umbrella projects under the Strengthening Institution For Transparency and Accountability (SITA) funded by the World Bank.
Apart from these, the ECNEC meeting was also apprised of 15 projects approved earlier by the Planning Adviser.
Advisers concerned attended the meeting while Planning Commission members and secretaries concerned were present.