State Minister for Public Administration Farhad Hossain on Saturday assured that the electricity situation would return to normal from Tuesday, putting an end to loadshedding. 

“There will be no further loadshedding after June 13 (Tuesday). Coal imports have already commenced, and we anticipate a swift reduction in load shedding,” he stated.

Farhad Hossain made these remarks at a meeting in Meherpur’s Shalika village on Saturday afternoon. The state minister also inspected various development projects in the area.

Explaining the cause of the coal crisis, the state minister attributed it to the surge in global oil prices and the Russia-Ukraine war.

He said: “Payra thermal power plant had been temporarily shut down due to the coal crisis. The power situation in Dhaka and Chittagong had been fully restored, and the situation in the Khulna division is progressively stabilizing. By June 13, the power supply across the country is expected to become normal.”

Highlighting the government’s accomplishments in providing electricity to the people, he added: “We have achieved 100% electricity coverage nationwide. When the Awami League government came into power in 2008, only 40% of the population had access to electricity. Under Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s leadership, we have increased it to 100%.”

Farhad Hossain emphasized that the electricity problem was temporary and would soon be resolved. 

State Minister for Public Administration Farhad Hossain on Wednesday said there are 358,125 vacant posts in various ministries, divisions and directorates of the government.

He revealed the information while responding to a tabled question from ruling party MP elected from Mymensingh Kazim Uddin Ahmed at parliament.

Farhad said that according to the latest published statistics of civil officers and staff-2021 book (published in June, 2022) from the Ministry of Public Administration, there are 358,125  vacant posts in various ministries/departments/directorates/departments and government offices under the government.

Among them, 43,336 posts of first class officers, 40,561 second class, 1,51, 548 of the third class and 1,22,680 fourth class.

Out of these, 1,929 have been appointed through the 40th BCS and 3,966 assistant surgeons have been appointed through the 42nd Special BCS (Health) cadre.

He said that the 41st BCS oral exam is ongoing, the 43rd BSS written exam answer sheet evaluation is going on and  44th written exam ended on January 11.

The junior minister said that the probable date of the 45th BCS preliminary test is scheduled in the second week of March.

He said that the appointment to the vacant posts in government offices is an ongoing process.

State Minister for Public Administration Farhad Hossain on Tuesday said the media has flourished more under the current government, led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, than at any other time in the past.

“The media has developed more during the current government than any previous governments as Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has created a friendly atmosphere for media personnel,” he said.

The state minister was addressing a workshop titled “Role of Media in Good Governance” at the auditorium of BCS Administration Academy in Dhaka’s Shahbagh area as the chief guest.

He went on to say one can become a good person as well as a good journalist if one holds firm the ideals of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and the spirit of the Liberation War.

Farhad also said positive competition in journalism enriches the media and also strengthens democracy of the country apart from good governance.

He also urged all journalists to discharge their duties imbued with the spirit of the Liberation War and patriotism.

Farhad underscored the need for concerted efforts of all to build the “Sonar Bangla” dreamt by Bangabandhu by 2041.

Chairman of the Board of Directors of Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS) and former vice chancellor of Dhaka University Prof AAMS Arefin Siddique, former principal secretary to the prime minister Dr Kamal Abdul Naser Chowdhury, Secretary of the Public Administration Ministry Mohammad Mesbah Uddin Chowdhury and Editor-in-Chief of Ekattor Television and President of Editors Guild Mozammel Babu also spoke on the occasion.

State Minister for Public Administration Farhad Hossain has said that it is unusual to have 29 books written by an additional secretary in the list of 1,477 books to build the reading habits of government officials.