Information Adviser to the Prime Minister Dr Zahed Ur Rahman on Tuesday said the government will establish new food godowns in three hill districts to ensure uninterrupted food supply in the hilly areas amid natural disasters, communication system limitations and emergency situations.

He said the government is working on a long-term plan to ensure food security of the people in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) region and the construction of new food warehouses is part of that initiative.

The information adviser made the remarks while speaking at a press briefing at the conference room of the Press Information Department (PID) at the Secretariat here.

The communication system in the hilly areas is often unfavorable, he said, adding that especially, during the monsoon season, landslides or any other natural disasters occur, resulting in disruptions in food transportation.

For this reason, he said, the decision has been taken to build new food godowns in the three hilly districts.

“This will make it easier to store and supply food in emergency situations and people living in remote areas will receive food assistance quickly,” he said.

Dr Zahed said under the government’s food-friendly programme, 30 kg of rice is being distributed to 55 lakh rural poor and extremely poor families of the country at a price of Tk15 per kg.

This programme will continue to ensure food security of low-income people, he added.

Highlighting the issue of publishing the results of SSC, Dakhil and Vocational examinations, Dr Zahed said this time the pass rate and the number of students obtaining GPA-5 have decreased compared to the previous years.

However, he said, the government is seeing this as part of improving the quality of education.

He said in the past, there was a tendency to increase only the pass rate, but the incumbent government is determined to ensure the quality of education.

The education minister also gave the same message while publishing the results, the adviser added.

Regarding the health sector, he said ensuring the presence of doctors in public hospitals is one of the government’s priorities.

There are complaints from commoners about the absence of doctors in hospitals and that is why the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare is strictly monitoring the matter, he said.

Recently, Dr Zahed said, a doctor was dismissed during working hours for negligence in performing his duties.

He said this is a clear message for government doctors to ensure regular attendance at work.

The information adviser also spoke about the sufferings of passengers on a recent international flight.

He said an important spare part of the aircraft was not available at the designated maintenance centre abroad, so that part had to be sent from Bangladesh.

At the same time, he said, passengers were subjected to additional suffering as they could not go outside the airport due to immigration-related reasons.

The adviser said the government and the concerned ministries expressed regret to this incident and necessary measures are being taken to prevent such situation in the future.

He said people have shown great interest in the recently inaugurated Mass Uprising Museum.

Dr Zahed said although some management problems arose due to excessive pressure from visitors in the early stages of the inauguration, it was resolved quickly.

Currently, visitors are able to visit the museum without any problems, he added.

Highlighting the activities of the Ministry of Science and Technology, the information adviser said 82,376 patients have been provided with various modern medical services, including PET-CT scan, thyroid scan, radiotherapy, bone mineral density (BMD) test and ultrasonography, through 22 nuclear medicine institutes and the Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences under the Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission.

Also, he said, 2,041 tests have been completed under the radioactivity test of imported food products.

Regarding the initiatives of the Ministry of Youth and Sports, he said initiatives have been taken to preserve, free up and build new grounds in 13 city corporations of the country, including Dhaka.

To this end, a meeting has been held with representatives of the concerned city corporations and necessary instructions have been given, he said.

Dr Zahed said there is no alternative to sports for the healthy physical and mental development of children and adolescents.

Many playgrounds have been lost or occupied due to urbanization, he observed.

He said the government is giving importance to restoring these playgrounds and establishing new grounds where needed.

At the same time, work is also being done to reduce the excessive dependence of children and adolescents on mobile and digital devices and involve them in sports and cultural activities, he said.

The information adviser said the government’s goal is not only to build infrastructure but also to establish a humane and sustainable development system by ensuring education, health, food security, science-based treatment and healthy development of children and adolescents.

All the ministries concerned are working in a coordinated manner to implement this goal, he added.