Tk 2,565 crore project to strengthen religious harmony goes before today's ECNEC meeting

The Local Government Division has taken up a project named 'Social Infrastructure Development Project (SIDP)' to strengthen religious harmony alongside consolidating moral values and social welfare. The proposed project is estimated to cost Tk 2,565 crore 59 lakh. Under it, a target has been set for infrastructure renovation and construction of security fencing at 53,000 religious and social institutions across the country.

According to Planning Commission sources, the sixth meeting of the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) of the current fiscal year will be held on Wednesday (November 4). Prime Minister and ECNEC Chairperson Tarique Rahman will chair the meeting at the Bangladesh Secretariat. The meeting was earlier scheduled for October 25 but was postponed because of the Prime Minister's visit to Japan.

According to the ECNEC notice, 14 development projects worth around Tk 12,500 crore will be presented at the meeting for approval. Of them, 12 are new projects and two are revised ones. The projects will be implemented with Tk 11,897 crore 58 lakh from the government's own funds, Tk 316 crore from project loans and Tk 287 crore 35 lakh from the agencies' own funds.

Related sources said that although 14 projects are on the agenda of Wednesday's ECNEC meeting, two more projects will be tabled directly outside the list. Among them is the Local Government Division's 'Social Infrastructure Development Project (SIDP)'. Another Local Government Division project, 'Important Rural Infrastructure Development Project on Priority Basis-3 (IRIDP-3) (3rd Revision)', will also be presented directly to ECNEC.

Both projects will be implemented by the Local Government Engineering Department (LGED).

Planning Commission sources said that if the project, taken up by the Local Government Division to improve religious harmony, is approved at ECNEC, work will begin this year. It is planned to be completed by June 2030. The development activities will be carried out in all upazilas of 64 districts across the country's eight divisions.

The project proposal says that achieving rapid economic growth depends largely on poverty alleviation and maintaining social stability and harmony. Social infrastructure is essential for social gatherings and for observing religious rites and ceremonies in order to strengthen social bonds nationwide. The development and services of social and religious institutions such as graveyards, cremation grounds, mosques, temples, churches, pagodas, gurudwaras and eidgahs play an important role in people's daily lives.

Through the proposed project, the renovation and expansion of these institutions has been considered one of the priority items on the government's agenda. Alongside upholding the government's social security and social service pledges, it will help create employment and reduce poverty.

In this context, the project has been proposed for implementation with full government financing at a cost of Tk 2,565 crore 59 lakh over the period from October 2026 to June 2030. Overall, the project has been taken up with the goals of rural infrastructure development, employment creation and poverty alleviation.

A Project Evaluation Committee (PEC) meeting on the project proposal was held on the 9th at the Planning Commission's Agriculture, Water Resources and Rural Institutions Division. The meeting reviewed the proposal and gave several conditions and directions. Following the PEC meeting's decisions, the Local Government Division restructured the DPP and sent it on October 13. After the DPP was restructured as directed, the Planning Commission's Physical Infrastructure Division recommended it for approval at ECNEC.