No tolerance for corruption, priority to rural roads: LGRD Minister

Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives Minister Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir has said that top priority will be given to the development of roads and communication systems in rural areas. He also stated that development activities will be carried forward without tolerating any form of corruption.

The minister made these remarks while responding to a question from Rangpur-4 constituency MP Akhtar Hossain during a session of the National Parliament on Sunday afternoon, March 29.

The minister said many mega projects in the past involved corruption in the name of development. Highlighting regional disparities, he noted that officials in previous eras took larger allocations for their own areas, leading to the neglect of roads in the northern region.

MP Akhtar Hossain said the condition of roads in his constituency is extremely poor. During the monsoon season, movement becomes difficult, and farmers cannot take their produce to market on time, depriving them of fair prices.

Citing statistics, he said only 198 kilometres of the 535 kilometres of roads in Kaunia upazila are paved. In Pirgacha upazila, only 251 kilometres out of 842 are paved. Across the entire constituency, 888 kilometres of the total 1,377 kilometres of roads remain unpaved.

He asked the minister whether any special project would be undertaken to develop the local communication system.