TDS Desk:

The Prime Minister (PM) Tarique Rahman told the parliament on Wednesday that govt will identify farmers in the country’s rain-hit haor wetlands whose crops were damaged by heavy rainfall and support them for the next three months, while outlining broader plans to ease pressure on Dhaka, expand medical education, strengthen women’s welfare and improve climate resilience in coastal areas.

Speaking during question time in the National Parliament, Tarique said the situation facing farmers in the low-lying haor region was worrying after a lawmaker from Sunamganj raised concerns that heavy rain had submerged large parts of the wetlands and left farmers struggling to harvest paddy.

The prime minister said he had already instructed local administrations in three districts, based on weather forecasts issued three days earlier, to take action if the predicted rainfall materialized.

He added that, before the parliamentary sitting began, he spoke with the disaster management and relief minister and directed authorities to identify affected farmers in those three districts as well as parts of Mymensingh and arrange government support for the next three months. He did not specify the form of assistance.

Tarique also said the government would gradually build up jobs, education and healthcare across the country to reduce migration to Dhaka, where opportunities and public services have become heavily concentrated over many years.

Responding to a supplementary question from a lawmaker from Cumilla, he said decentralization would be a long-term process, but the government was trying to develop special industrial zones, expand medical services and establish better educational institutions outside the capital so fewer people would feel compelled to move to Dhaka for work, study or treatment.

In separate written replies to lawmakers, the prime minister said the government was taking the necessary steps to build medical college hospitals in Chandpur and Nilphamari. Bangladesh currently has 37 public medical colleges, 23 of which already operate hospitals with 500 beds or more.

Construction of 500-bed hospitals is under way at eight other medical colleges, while planning work is in progress for similar facilities in Magura, Habiganj, Netrokona and Naogaon.

He also said the government remained committed to providing sustainable housing for landless, homeless and disaster-affected families through ongoing and planned rehabilitation and affordable housing schemes.

Tarique further told parliament that 37,814 women who head marginal and low-income households in 13 districts and three city corporations are already receiving 2,500 taka a month through Family Cards as part of a women’s economic empowerment program.

He said the government planned to expand maternal and child assistance, increase both the number of beneficiaries and the level of financial support, link cash transfers with livelihood support, and strengthen marketing networks for women entrepreneurs.

He added that the Women and Children Affairs Ministry was continuing a range of programs, including support for vulnerable women, nutrition assistance for mothers and children, microcredit for self-employment, and services for survivors of violence.

On climate adaptation and child welfare, the prime minister said a gender-responsive climate adaptation project in coastal parts of Khulna and Satkhira had already provided livelihood support, training and agricultural inputs to 43,000 women.

He said 13,308 household-based rainwater harvesting systems had been completed and handed over to beneficiaries, with more installations under way.

He also said the government was aware of severe river erosion risks in Dakop and Batiaghata in Khulna district and was carrying out riverbank protection and embankment works through the Bangladesh Water Development Board, with more repairs planned before the next monsoon season.