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State Minister for Posts, Telecommunications, and Information Technology Zunaid Ahmed Palak said on Thursday that the Posts and Telecommunication Division, Information and Communication Technology Division and private sector suffered a loss of Tk 18,000 crore during violence over quota reform protests.
“We have been affected in various ways in our public and private sectors of telecom and IT. Our various infrastructures have been damaged. We have suffered directly financially,” he said after a meeting with the stakeholders of the telecommunication sector at the Secretariat.
Palak said, “Our various infrastructures have been damaged; Lives have been lost and many of our services have been disrupted. All in all, our financial loss in recent incidents is around Tk 18,000 crore."
He mentioned that the telecom and IT sector suffered the biggest crisis as it is heavily dependent on foreign customers and clients or buyers and software service is exported to around 60 to 70 countries around the world.
The state minister said that they [software exporters and freelancers] have to maintain their reputation and retain clients, adding, “When service delivery is disrupted due to the situation, it results in a major loss of confidence for our software exporters. Our freelancers or outsourcers have also been severely affected.”
Palak stated that they have discussed with the participants about potential ways forward. They consulted with the entrepreneurs to assess how much support can be provided to overcome the financial losses.
Besides, he assured that an effort will be taken to provide incentives in a process based on the income of registered freelancers.
Earlier, amid violence during student demonstrations for quota reform, the government halted mobile and broadband internet services on July 17 and 18, disconnecting Bangladesh from the rest of the world online and disrupting various services.
As a result, IT-dependent entrepreneurs, businessmen and freelance professionals face a huge loss. Apart from financial loss due to the internet shutdown, the possibility of losing jobs also arises.
