Govt working on ‘One Citizen, One Card’ to merge all citizen services: Minister

The government has adopted a plan to roll out a new card named “One Citizen, One Card” to merge, streamline and digitise all the citizen services provided in the country, said Finance Minister Amir Khosru Chowdhury on Thursday.

The BNP government has adopted a massive economic reform initiative to halt the concentration of wealth to a select few groups, and spread the economic gains to all other groups including the marginalised ones, he said at a pre-budget discussion session hosted at a hotel in the capital.

“The democratization of economy” is no longer a simple political slogan but is being considered as the main approach in governing the state, the finance minister noted.

In this approach, people long kept away from mainstream economy, like the village potters and seamsters, will be included.

People in the creative industry, another marginalised group, will also get priority in national economic plans. Special allocations will be made for singers, painters, and theatre activists in the upcoming budget, and special projects will be proposed. “Theatre districts” will be set up in every big towns, he added.

Furthermore, the cost of doing business will be slashed; the bureaucratic hurdles and excessive charges in the port operations and product transportation will be curbed through strict measures.

Different approval process linked to economic measures will be streamlined, relaxed and automated over the next year.

Every step of the project drafting and implementation process will be brought under radar, and fixed completion deadlines will be made mandatory, Khosru noted.

The government is also taking steps to bolster the capital market as a mean to reduce the capital demand pressure on the banking sector. Big companies will be required to list with the capital market. Many international investors and financing agencies have shown interest in strengthening the country’s capital market.

Khosru also said that the government is working to introduce “Bangladesh Bond” sovereign borrowing instruments in the domestic and international capital markets.