The government has taken an initiative to introduce an “e-Health Card” programme on a pilot basis in five districts within 180 days of forming the government, Prime Minister Tarique Rahman told the Parliament on Wednesday.
Speaking in Parliament while replying to a starred question from treasury bench lawmaker Md Shamsur Rahman Simul Biswas of Pabna-5, the Prime Minister said a project proposal in this regard is currently awaiting approval.
He said the pilot programme will be launched in Khulna, Noakhali, Bogura, Sirajganj and Narsingdi, adding that the system will be introduced within the 180-day timeframe under the government’s priority programme.
According to him, the e-Health Card will be integrated with the Electronic Referral System and the Electronic Patient Management System to improve coordination and service delivery in the health sector.
Highlighting progress under the government’s 180-day action plan, the Prime Minister, who also chairs the BNP, said several welfare-oriented initiatives have already been implemented.
He said under a pilot phase of the Family Card programme for women heads of households, 60,044 families across 36 units have already received cards.
Under the pre-pilot phase of the Farmer Card programme, 20,748 farmers have been enrolled across 11 agricultural blocks in 11 upazilas spanning 10 districts in eight divisions.
He also said agricultural loans of up to Tk10,000 in the crop, livestock and fisheries sectors have been waived as part of election pledges.
The government is providing monthly honorariums to religious leaders serving in 4,908 mosques, 990 temples, 144 Buddhist monasteries and pagodas, and 396 churches, with plans to gradually expand the programme nationwide.
The Prime Minister said the Ministry of Water Resources, Local Government Division, Ministry of Agriculture and Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief are jointly carrying out excavation and re-excavation work on 666 canals covering 965.04 kilometres.
As part of the afforestation programme aimed at planting 25 crore trees, around 3.14 crore saplings are expected to be planted during the upcoming monsoon season.
He also announced plans to distribute free school uniforms to 2 lakh primary school students and gradually introduce a “One Teacher One Tab” initiative in schools.
On education financing, he said the unsecured loan ceiling for language student visas has been increased from Tk3 lakh to Tk10 lakh, while loan procedures for students going to Japan have been simplified.
The Prime Minister added that 35 megawatts of renewable energy have already been added to the national grid through rooftop solar and net metering programmes, as part of efforts to achieve 20 per cent renewable electricity by 2030.
He further said the “Notun Kuri Sports-2026” programme has been launched to identify young sporting talent in eight disciplines, including football, cricket, kabaddi, athletics, badminton, chess, swimming and martial arts.
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