Prime minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday questioned what loss Bangladesh would incur if transit facilities were provided to India and insisted that Bangladesh could not keep its doors closed in this current world.
鈥楾here is an objection as to why we gave transit to India. We already gave transit earlier. What is the loss for it? Rather, we are getting tolls for using the roads. The people of our country are getting its benefits. We can earn some money鈥� we can鈥檛 keep our doors closed,鈥� she said.
Sheikh Hasina, also the ruling Awami League president, said this while delivering her valedictory speech at the budget session of the 12th parliament.
Taking a swipe at her critics over her recent India trip, she said Bangladesh needed to join the trans-Asian highway.
鈥榃e鈥檝e also gained transit [facilities] from India for [carrying goods to] Nepal and Bhutan,鈥� she said.
Noting that Bangladesh brings fuel from Assam, India, to the Parbatipur depot through the pipeline, she said, 鈥榃e can purchase fuel at a cheap rate.鈥�
Earlier on the day, responding to a question from AL lawmaker Habibur Rahman, the prime minister told Jatiya Sangsad that the government had taken a plan to generate electricity from hydrogen and ammonia alongside the production of solar and wind power in the country.
鈥業t is expected that it will be possible to use hydrogen energy on a pilot basis in the country by 2035,鈥� she said.
The prime minister said a cell has been formed at the Rupantarita Prakritik Gas Company Limited (RPGCL) under Bangladesh Oil, Gas, and Mineral Corporation (Petrobangla) to collect the results of ongoing research and the data of the activities undertaken in the developed world over sustainable and reliable methods of producing hydrogen as energy.
The cell will design a project proposal after receiving reliable information in this regard, she added.
Besides, the PM hoped that the 1,200-megawatt first unit of the 2,400-megawatt Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant would go into commercial production by the end of this year.
She said that a target was set to generate 40 per cent of electricity from renewable energy by 2041 in the country.
In reply to another question from AL lawmaker Ali Azam of Bhola-2, the prime minister said that the government was committed to ensuring justice based on equality for all, irrespective of the rich and poor, and establishing justice in society by making visible improvements in the judiciary system.
She said that the current government has relentlessly been working to establish the rule of law in the country by assuring a fair trial to alleviate the suffering of people seeking justice.
A total of 1,429 judges have been recruited in the lower courts since 2009, said Hasina.
The third session of the 12th Parliament, also known as the Budget Session, which started on June 5, was prorogued after 19 working days.
Finance minister AH Mahmood Ali placed the Tk 7.97 lakh crore budget on June 6, while the Finance Bill 2024 was passed on June 29 and the budget for the 2024鈥�25 financial year was placed on June 30.
A total of 228 MPs discussed the proposed budget for 38 hours and 25 minutes. Of the total number, the number of ruling party members is 172 (29 hours and 12 minutes) and 56 opposition and independent MPs (9 hours and 13 minutes).
A total of seven bills have been passed in this session.
A total of 117 questions were received for the prime minister while she answered 67 questions.
The session received 2300 questions for different ministries, while the number of answered questions was 1522.
Under the title of attention notice, some 105 notices were submitted, while none of the notices were discussed in parliament.