Cabinet okays proposal for Digital University, NSP expansion

The cabinet also approved a proposal for expansion of the National Service Programme (NSP) for next two years.

The approval was given at the weekly cabinet meeting held at Bangladesh Secretariat with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair.

Briefing reporters after the meeting cabinet secretary M Musharraf Hossain Bhuiyan said the cabinet approved in principle a draft on 'Digital University, Bangladesh Act, 2014' which proposed for establishing a public university at Gazipur Hi-tech Park.

Cabinet secretary said the cabinet discussed the issue of naming the university, and came to a decision for naming the country's first ever specialized IT university after Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

The cabinet will complete the procedure in this regard including approval of the Bangabandhu Memorial Trust before placing the draft to the cabinet for final approval, Musharraf Hossain said.

The cabinet secretary said the law proposed for an attractive salary structure and allowances to draw the brilliant and competent persons at home and abroad for teaching profession and other posts of the university.

The university will have arrangement to provide distant and online
education on ICT and it will have a link with ICT industries. Two noted persons who are management or technical experts on ICT will be the members of the academic council.

The government will implement the project on priority basis, the cabinet secretary said.

Musharraf Hossain said the cabinet approved a proposal for extension of the NSP under which the programme will be implemented in 17 poverty ridden upazilas of 17 northern and southern districts.

The programme will begin on January 1, 2015 and continue for next two years, cabinet secretary said adding around 42,500 youths would get three-months training and short-time service under the programme.

The NSP was first launched in March 2010 in three districts to provide necessary training and short-time service to educated male and female youths for their capacity building to find job. At that time the programme was implemented in 19 upazilas of Kurigram, Barguna and Gopalganj districts.

Under the programme a total of 56,801 male and female youths were given training and out of them 56,054 got government services. Under the NSP a youth gets Taka 100 everyday during training period and Taka 200 during the short-time service.

The second phase of the NSP was implemented in 2011-12 fiscal year in seven districts of Rangpur Division when 14,467 youths were given training. The third phase will be implemented in 17 poverty ridden upazilas of 17 districts; the cabinet secretary said adding that the upazilas were selected on the basis of the poverty map of Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS).

The upazilas are- Mehendiganj of Barisal, Gosairhat of Shariyatpur,
Dewanganj of Jamalpur, Nandail of Mymansingh, Kaokhali of Pirojpur, Haimchar of Chandpur, Sherpur Sadar, Shyamnagar of Satkhira, Nalchiti of Jhalkathi, Mohammadpur of Magura, Goalanda of Rajbari, Chitalmari of Begerhat, Chowhali of Sirajganj, Thanchi of Bandarban, Singda of Natore, Terkhada of Khulna and Monoharganj of Comilla.