Govt to introduce peace medal after Bangabandhu

The government had decided to introduce a peace medal after the name of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Peace Medal will be conferred to local and international individuals and institutions for contributions to establishing peace.

The medal will be given every two years. One individual or institution will get the medal each time. The cabinet on Monday approved the draft of the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Medal Policy, 2024 in this regard.

As per the policy, the prize winner will receive one lakh US dollars, a certificate along with a medal made of 18-carat gold and weighs approximately 50 grams. The draft policy was approved in a cabinet meeting held at the Prime Minister's Office.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina presided over the meeting.

Later, Cabinet Secretary Md. Mahbub Hossain briefed a press conference at the Secretariat in the afternoon. He hoped that the activities to confer the medal would begin this year and it would be given from the next year.

As per the policy, the nominated person or institution's name for the prize will be announced on March 17 every year to mark the birth anniversary of Father of the Nation and National Children's Day.

The prize will be given on May 23 or at a convenient time as Bangabandhu was awarded the prestigious Joliot-Curie Medal of Peace by the World Peace Council on May 23, 1973.

The cabinet secretary said work to award the prize will begin now with the policy but the cabinet gave directives to frame a law to this end later.

The cabinet asked to keep a provision in the law for setting up a fund where the government or anybody else apart from the government can donate, he said.

Later, the cost of awarding the prize will be met from the donation money, he said. But the government will bear the cost until the fund is raised, he added.

In the meeting, the cabinet gave the final nod to the draft of "Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners (Remuneration and Special Privileges) Act, 2024".

Mahbub Hossain said a draft of the act was approved by fixing the salaries of the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and other Election Commissioners.

As per the proposed act, CEC's salary will be Tk 105000 and other commissioners' salary will be Tk 95,000, he said, adding apart from the salary, they will get a 50 per cent special allowance of basic salary and other allowances.

The cabinet secretary said now the existing law regarding the issue is of 1983. But the High Court has directives to change the acts which were framed during the military regime, he said, adding that in light of the court directive, the new proposed act is framed following the existing act.

The cabinet secretary said as per the existing act, CEC gets a salary equal to an Appellate Division justice and other election commissioners get a salary equal to a High Court justice.

In the proposed act, the salary of the CEC and other commissioners has been fixed while they will get festival allowances, Bangla Nababarsho allowances, housing and transport allowances and other facilities.

He said actually, the language of the act has been changed.

In the meeting, the cabinet secretary said, the prime minister asked the state minister for commerce to begin market monitoring strictly.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has given strong directives that the decision to stop the plying of battery-run rickshaws cannot be taken ignoring the matter of livelihood of the drivers, said the cabinet secretary.

She directed to regulate the plying of battery-run rickshaws through framing rules and asked to designate specific areas for plying of those rickshaws.

On May 15, in the first meeting of the Road Transport Advisory Council, a decision was taken to stop the plying of battery-run rickshaws in the capital city to bring discipline to the streets.

Later, police started a drive to stop batter-run rickshaws on streets. In protest of the decision, drivers of the battery-run rickshaws staged agitation blockading different key roads in the capital's Mirpur area on Sunday.

The cabinet secretary said the incident centring the auto-rickshaw plying on streets drew the attention of the prime minister.

She gave strong directives that no decision could be taken ignoring the matter of livelihood of the drivers. The premier said the livelihood of the drivers should be considered with utmost importance.

The cabinet secretary said the prime minister also directed to impart training to the drivers through framing rules.

The premier called for preparing an appropriate model or structure for the machine of the battery-run rickshaws. The cabinet approved the draft "Agreement on Maritime Transport Cooperation" among BIMSTEC members.

It approved the proposal for Bangladesh singing to "Protocol to the D-8 PTA on Dispute Settlement Mechanism". The cabinet gave a nod to the matter of Bangladesh joining as a party of the Apostille Convention, in 1961.