Government to build six 100-bed hospitals for workers in six industrial zones

The government has planned to build six hospitals of 100 beds each in six industrial zones of the country to ensure medical care for working people. The hospitals will initially be built in Tongi, Ashulia, Kaliakoir, Narayanganj, Savar and Chattogram. Prime Minister Tarique Rahman said the hospitals will provide treatment only to workers.

The prime minister disclosed the plan on Monday while answering a member's question in the National Parliament. Earlier, raising a point of order, BNP MP Shamsur Rahman Shimul Biswas said he had heard from the labour minister about the prime minister's intention and interest in ensuring healthcare for Bangladesh's low-income productive citizens, especially working people. He asked the prime minister to say whether the government has any specific plan to establish hospitals so that working people and their family members in the country's labour-intensive industrial areas can receive medical care.

Deputy Speaker Kaiser Kamal then remarked that the honourable member, being a lawyer, had shown good smartness, noting that the prime minister's question-and-answer session falls on Wednesday, when he would not be present, which was why he wanted to ask the question now.

The prime minister then said that during more than a decade of unbearable autocratic rule, Bangladesh's energy system had been made dependent on foreign sources. Instead of using the country's mineral resources for its own people, everything had been made import-dependent.

Tarique Rahman said the country had been made import-dependent without developing Bangladesh's industry. Deliberate policies of that kind had been adopted, as a result of which the natural growth of industry in Bangladesh could not take place.

The prime minister added that, in the same way, the healthcare system of Bangladesh had been destroyed little by little during the autocratic period. In particular, whatever healthcare existed for rural people during past democratic governments was also destroyed.

He said that only a few days earlier, in a session of the National Parliament, the leader of the opposition had also raised concern about the healthcare system of Bangladesh. Taking everything into consideration, it was seen that the healthcare system had been deliberately destroyed during the autocratic period. As a result, the people of Bangladesh were forced to go to one particular country for treatment.

Tarique Rahman said the present government was elected by the votes of the people of Bangladesh. The government is working for people of every profession and class in the country. Likewise, the government is considering the treatment of workers with seriousness.

The prime minister added that for the benefit of proper treatment for workers and working people, the government has already planned to build a total of six hospitals of 100 beds each.

Tarique Rahman said the hospitals will initially be built in Tongi, Ashulia, Kaliakoir, Narayanganj, Savar and Chattogram, which are industrial zones of the country. The hospitals will provide medical care only to workers.

The prime minister's remarks in Parliament suggested that once these hospitals open, it will become easier for the millions of workers living in the industrial zones, and their families, to receive treatment close to their workplaces.