Formation of Padma, Meghna divisions halted

The government on Sunday backed away from a planned formation of two new administrative divisions named after the country’s two largest rivers– Padma and Meghna– citing the ongoing economic crisis across the globe.

The decision to postpone the proposed divisions’ formation came at a meeting of the National Implementation Committee for Administrative Reforms (NICAR) at the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) in Dhaka. The meeting was chaired by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

Forming the proposed new divisions is not a priority to the government amid the ongoing global crisis, said Local Government and Rural Development (LGRD) Minister Md Tajul Islam, who is also a member of NICAR.

He said, “The whole world is facing crises. As a result of the crises, Bangladesh is reducing its expenditure.

“It will become challenging for the government to spend thousands of crores of taka for (forming) the divisions at this time.”

Lawmakers had announced that proposals regarding the formation of the divisions were to be discussed at the latest meeting of the NICAR, which is responsible for approving the formation of new administrative departments, divisions, etc.

According to the proposals, the Padma Division would be formed with districts from the greater Faridpur region and the Meghna Division with Cumilla and adjacent districts.

Currently, there are eight administrative divisions in the country– Dhaka, Chattogram, Rajshahi, Khulna, Barishal, Sylhet, Rangpur and Mymensingh.