Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina told the parliament on Wednesday that the government is mulling electricity production from hydrogen and ammonia alongside solar and wind power production in the country.
"It is expected that it would be possible to use hydrogen energy on a pilot basis in the country by 2035," she said, replying to a question from Awami League lawmaker of Sylhet-3 Habibur Rahman.
Speaker Dr Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury tabled the question-answer session in the house.
The prime minister said a cell has been formed at the Rupantarita Prakritik Gas Company Limited (RPGCL) under Bangladesh Oil, Gas and Mineral Corporation (Petrobangla) to collect the results of the ongoing research and the data on the activities undertaken in the developed world over sustainable and reliable methods of producing hydrogen as energy.
"The cell will design a project proposal after receiving reliable information in this regard," she added.
Besides, the premier hopes that the 1,200-megawatt first unit of the 2,400-megawatt Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant will go into commercial production by the end of this year.
"A target was set to generate 40 per cent of electricity from clean energy (renewable) by 2041 in the country," she added.
Replying to separate questions from ruling party lawmakers, Alauddin Ahmmad Chowdhury (Feni-1) and Farida Yasmin (Woman Seat-35) regarding the Asrayan Project and its beneficiaries, the prime minister said that a total of 8,67,977 landless and homeless families have been rehabilitated under the project.
She said that the total number of beneficiaries is more than 43.39 lakh. "So far, 58 Districts and 464 Upazilas have been completely freed from landless and homeless people. Five divisions — Dhaka, Mymensingh, Sylhet, Khulna and Rajshahi — are now completely free from landless and homeless people. That means there are no landless, homeless people in all these districts, upazilas and divisions," the prime minister added.
In response to another query from AL lawmaker Ali Azam (Bhola-2), the premier said that the government is committed to ensuring justice based on equality for all, irrespective of the rich and the poor, and establishing justice in society by making visible improvements in the judiciary system.
She said the present government has been relentlessly working to establish the rule of law in the country by assuring fair trials to alleviate the suffering of the people seeking justice.
She pointed out that a total of 1,429 judges have been recruited in lower courts since 2009.
Answering a question from AL lawmaker SM Ataul Haque (Satkhira-4), the prime minister said the allocation for the social safety sector has been increased by 9.12 times from Tk 13,845 crore in the 2008-09 fiscal year to Tk 126,272 crore in the current fiscal year of 2023-24, which is 16.58 per cent of the total national budget.
