Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed has claimed that Bangladesh’s law and order situation has visibly improved over the past 180 days, six months, while acknowledging that more time is needed to consolidate the gains.

“The people of the country will assess whether they are satisfied with the law and order situation. However, from the government’s perspective, we can say with certainty that there has been a visible improvement in the situation over the past six months,” he told reporters on Monday.

The minister was speaking at a briefing at the Bangladesh Secretariat after a meeting of a committee formed to formulate recommendations on the report of the Bangladesh Judicial Service Pay Commission, 2025.

He said the government had undertaken a number of reforms during its first 180 days and that various initiatives by law enforcement agencies had been positively received.

“We have completed only six months. During this period, we have carried out many reform initiatives, and you have seen several commendable initiatives by the law enforcement agencies,” he said.

According to the minister, several public welfare programmes and other initiatives undertaken during the first 180 days were based on the roadmap announced by Prime Minister Tarique Rahman.

He said the government had faced a series of global and domestic crises since taking office but had dealt with them “efficiently and successfully”.

Fuel crisis and energy security

Salahuddin said the government had taken measures to shield consumers and farmers from the impact of the global energy crisis triggered by the Russia-Ukraine war.

Although fuel and gas prices rose sharply worldwide, the government did not immediately increase fuel prices in Bangladesh, he said.

He added that the government kept the fuel price unchanged for nearly a month during the Boro rice cultivation season to protect farmers before deciding on a moderate adjustment.

He claimed that fuel prices in the global market and neighbouring countries had risen by almost 100 per cent during the period.

Acknowledging that the longstanding gas and energy crisis inherited from the previous government could not be resolved overnight, the minister said the government was pursuing a long-term strategy to address the problem.

Ensuring adequate primary energy supplies is essential to attracting foreign investment, expanding trade and business and maintaining industrial production, he said.

Salahuddin said a decision had been taken to establish a land-based LNG terminal at Matarbari Deep Sea Port following a visit to the port led by the prime minister.

The government is also working to establish multiple floating storage and regasification units (FSRUs) to reduce disruptions to gas supplies caused by recurring mechanical problems at the existing Summit and Excelerate Energy floating terminals, he said.

He added that surveys were currently under way to identify suitable locations for the additional FSRUs.

New gas exploration planned

The government has also launched new gas exploration programmes both onshore and offshore to reduce dependence on imported energy, according to the minister.

He expressed hope that the initiatives would help achieve a sustainable solution to the country’s gas shortage within the next few years.

Agriculture, social security measures

The minister also highlighted several social protection and public welfare measures taken during the government’s first 180 days.

He said the Cabinet approved and implemented a “historic” decision to waive agricultural loans of up to Tk10,000 at its first meeting.