Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina commented that those who used to criticize digital Bangladesh are now using this medium more.
The Prime Minister said this at the 'Smart Bangladesh Task Force' meeting organized at the Prime Minister's Office on Thursday (August 3).
Noting that all areas of the country are improving due to working according to the election manifesto, she said, we are now on the way to smart Bangladesh from digital. We promised to implement Digital Bangladesh in our election manifesto, we fulfilled it. This time the government's aim is to transform Bangladesh into 'Smart Bangladesh' by 2041.
She also said that the Awami League government has embarked on a journey to build a cost-effective, sustainable, intelligent, knowledge-based, innovative Smart Bangladesh based on the four main foundations of Smart Citizen, Smart Society, Smart Economy and Smart Government. Highlighting the various technological developments taken during the Awami League government, the Prime Minister said, we have arranged submarine cables for fast internet use.
Sheikh Hasina said, each of our telephones was analog. We were the first to introduce digital telephones. And mobile phones did not work anywhere except Dhaka and Chittagong. There was only one company, 10 taka per minute for mobile calls, Tk. 10 per minute for calls. From that place our effort was to deliver mobiles to the hands of people. Today everyone is running the Internet, speaking at low cost.
The head of government said, after coming to power in 2009, we have progressed rapidly in the last 14 and half years. People in our country can grasp technology very quickly. Now everyone has learned to use mobile-internet. We want everyone to become tech-savvy. We have given computers at the village level, schools and schools, said Sheikh Hasina.
She said, technology gives us many opportunities. We are trying to use them. There will be no need for manual labor to use digital technology. Dr. Shahidullah wrote in an article a long time ago that what will be the appearance of human beings one day. He wrote that there would be a large head and two fingers to press buttons. Then we wondered where he got these words. Today I see that his words are true.
Stating that the government is working to create skilled manpower for the formation of Smart Bangladesh, the Prime Minister said that Bangladesh is now ahead of many developed countries. The government is working to move the country forward.