<div style="text-align: justify; "><b style="font-size: 1rem;">Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Friday said if Awami League stays in power, the fate of the country’s people will improve further.</b><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“We’ve brought a massive change….....This change would never have happened if Awami League did not come to power. If the Awami League stays (in power), the fate of the people will be changed further," she said, highlighting her government’s successes and achievements in different sectors over the last 14 years.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The premier said this while chairing a discussion arranged by Bangladesh Awami League on the occasion of the 74th founding anniversary of the ruling party at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre in the city.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">She said after the people voted for the AL election symbol ‘boat’ the people have witnessed the change.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Hasina, also the AL president, asked all to work for the country so that none can play ducks and drakes with the fate of Bangladesh.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“I know now many ploys and conspiracies continue. When AL is in government, the people get benefits and the fate of the people get changes. It is a proven fact” she said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The PM said her government has been fulfilling every basic need –food, clothing, shelter, healthcare and education-- of the people.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">She said AL was founded by the people and for the people. So, serving the people is the job of the party, she added.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Noting that her government has advanced a long way in implementation of the dream of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, she said Bangladesh will attain the final status of a developing country in 2026.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“We’ll have to continue boosting production and increasing the literacy rate. Economically we need to increase our capacity,” she said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Pointing at the suffering of the people due to commodity price hikes, she said the people are now passing a tough time. “We are trying franticaly to ease the suffering of the people.”</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The PM urged the affluent section of the society to stand by the poor in this tough time.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">She reiterated her firm commitment to improve the life of the people further.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“No man will live unhealthily. We will provide everyone with a beautiful home and a beautiful life. This will be the promise of Awami League on its foundation anniversary day. We will fulfill the dream of the father of the nation,” she said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The PM said Awami League started making a planned development of Bangladesh, assuming power in 2009.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Focusing on her government's achievements in the country’s different sectors and social indexes, she drew a comparison between the fag end of BNP regime in 2006 and AL present regime.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">She said the size of budget was Tk 761,785 crore in FY2023-24, only Tk 61,000 crore in 2006, the size of GDP increased to Tk 50.31 lakh crore now from only Tk 4.15 lakh crore, the economic growth rate to 7.25 percent (average 6pc) from 5.40 percent in 2006, the size of ADP to Tk 274,674 crore from TK 21,500 crore.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The PM said the nominal per capita income has increased to US$ 2,825 from only US$ 543 in 2006, though it now has dropped to US$ 2,765, while the reserve of foreign currencies to US$ 48 billion once during the Covid-19 period from only US$ 0.74 billion during the BNP regime. Still there is a reserve of US$ 30.83 billion now, she said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The volume of export earnings surged to US$ 52.97 billion from only US$ 10.05 billion in 2006, the annual remittance inflow to US$ 24.03 billion from only US$ 4.8 billion during the BNP period, the revenue collection to over Tk 500,000 crore from Tk 37,870 crore, she said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The premier said the poverty rate declined to 18.7 percent now from 41.51 percent in BNP regime, while the extreme poverty rate to 5.6 percent from 25.1 percent, the child mortality rate to 21/1000 live births from 84/ 1000 live births, the maternal mortality rate to 161/100,000 now from 370/100,000 in 2006 and the dropout rate in primary education to 13 percent from 49 percent</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">She said the average life expectancy increased to 73 years from 60 years, the electricity generation to 25,227 megawatt from 3078 megawatt, the beneficiaries under the electricity coverage to 100 percent of the population from only 28 percent in 2006, the sanitary latrine coverage to 97.32 percent from 43.28 percent, the access to drinking water to 98.8 percent from 55 percent, the allocation for social safely programmes to Tk 126,272 crore (16.58pc of the budget) from Tk 2,105 crore (4pc) and the number of beneficiaries under the social safety net to 1,8,123,554 from 21,49,357 during the BNP regime.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The literacy rate rose to 75 percent from 45 percent, the number of primary schools to 118,891 from 65,672, food production to 9.80 crore metric tons from 2.61 crore metric tons, food grains production to 4.92 crore metric tons from 1.80 crore metric tons, she said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The users of internet increased to 73.5 percent from 0.23 percent of the people, the number of mobile SIM subscription to 183 million from only 19 million, the number of freelancers to 670,000 from only 200, the number of digital services to 2,180 from a handful ones, the number of government websites to 51,678 from only 98 ones, she added.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Hasina said the rural road network was increased to 89,874 km from 3,133km in the BNP regime. “That’s means we’ve brought a massive change in Bangladesh,” she said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">AL general secretary Obaidul Quader, its advisory council member Tofail Ahmed, its presidium members Jahangir Kabir Nanak and Abdur Rahman, joint general secretary Mahbubul Alam Hanif, organising secretaries Shafiul Alam Nadel and Afzal Hossain, health and family welfare affairs secretary Dr Rokeya Sultana, central working committee member Akhtar Jahan, AL Dhaka south city unit president Abu Ahmed Mannafi and Dhaka north city unit president Sheikh Bazlur Rahman spoke at the discussion.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">AL publicity and publication secretary Abdus Sobhan Golap and his deputy Syed Abdul Awal Shamim jointly moderated the event.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Bangladesh Awami League was founded on June 23, 1949. UNB</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd24/kh</div>