Tk 29,000 cr grabbed in name of smart Bangladesh

Zarif Mahmud: Awami League won the December 2008 elections with the promise of Digital Bangladesh. According to that promise, by 2021, every sector of the country should be dependent on information technology and through this, the digital transformation of the sectors should be ensured. Keeping this slogan in front, the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Department has taken up one project after another since 2010. Then in December 2022, the then Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina brought forward the concept of ‘Smart Bangladesh’ by changing this slogan. Through this slogan, by 2041, all the services and media of the country are promised to be converted to digital, to build an inclusive society and to build a business-friendly environment. More new projects are taken under this.
In total, the Awami League government took projects of about Tk 29 thousand crores through the ICT department from 2010 until it was ousted from power. However, most of these initiatives have not been successful. Majority of the total expenditure in the projects has been for infrastructure development. But the projects could not attract entrepreneurs against such huge expenditure. Again, several projects have been taken to develop skilled workers through training. But even there the trainees could not be connected with the ICT industry later.
Experts are talking about the projects taken by the Bangladesh Hi-Tech Park Authority as a big example of fruitless investment for the development of infrastructure in the information technology sector. Hi-Tech Park, IT Park, Software Technology Park, IT Training and Incubation Center, IT Business Incubator Center, Frontier Technology Institute, etc.
Although these activities were carried out across the country to develop hi-tech industries, they did not attract investment as expected. Business activities in the technology sector are being conducted at Bangabandhu Hi-Tech City in Kaliakoir, Gazipur for several years. Besides, few companies have started small scale production activities in the hi-tech parks built in Sylhet and Rajshahi. Very little foreign investment has come into these parks.
According to the Hi-Tech Park Authority, the company has completed five projects so far. The total cost is Tk 788 crore 18 lakh 49 thousand taka. Besides, 10 more projects are ongoing. The cost has been estimated at Tk 7 thousand 129 crore 93 lakh 59 thousand.
Industry insiders say that no IT industry owner or employee is interested in going to hi-tech parks. Some institutions went initially but they returned later due to various crises. Although it is originally called a high-tech park, the technology-related workers do not want to go there because the necessary ecosystem for living has not been developed around these infrastructures.
Investors are encouraged if the business model can show that there will be demand in the next 20 years, industry insiders say. But if a product becomes useless after five years, businessmen don’t want to invest in it. Past government initiatives have not shown any model to ensure business growth. On the one hand, we are lagging behind in infrastructure development, on the other hand, mistakes have been made in planning. There is no plan to employ educated graduates in government projects. Those working in this sector are not able to acquire proper skills. This is due to lack of government planning.
The then government took several projects between 2015 and 2022 at a cost of more than Tk 13 thousand crore for setting up Sheikh Russell Digital Lab in educational institutions, creating various digital literacy institutions including Sheikh Kamal IT Training and Incubation Center. A part of these projects has already been inaugurated. However, by inspecting the site, it was found that the equipment stored in various inaugurated institutions was damaged. Bangladesh Bureau of Education Information and Statistics (BANBAIS) report says that while the total teacher-student ratio is close to ideal, the shortage of teachers in important subjects such as Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is very evident. Currently there are Tk 14,712 teachers in ICT against a total of 1 crore 13 lakh 31 thousand 143 students. Accordingly, there is one teacher for every 689 students.
Educationists say that the government has invested heavily in ICT sector infrastructure development and training, but the students have not got the benefits of these. Even though the students of Mofswal and villages get IT labs, these labs remain closed throughout the year. In the absence of a teacher, it becomes unusable. As a result, students’ learning remains deficient and this affects the results as well. A portion of those who are failing at secondary level are failing in ICT.
Among the government’s major projects is the expansion of digital connectivity and fiber optical network to the village level. The government has taken several initiatives to expand the network system. These include Connected Bangladesh, Digital Connectivity, National Information and Communication Technology Infrastructure Development (Info Sarkar Phase I, II and III). The government has made large investments through these projects. However, the benefits of this are still not being received by the residents of Mafswal and remote towns.
When asked, CEO and founder of bdjobs.com and information technology expert AKM Fahim Mashroor said, ‘Digital Bangladesh and Smart Bangladesh, various projects have been taken here. Corruption and nepotism have been done through these projects taken with people’s tax money. Common people did not get the benefit of this. Even though many projects were taken up for the industry, the people of the industry did not get any benefit from it. A project called Info Sarkar-3 has also been taken, through this project it is said to deliver digital connection, broadband connection to villages, but in reality, the people of the villages are still dependent on the mobile network.
He said, “Even though initiatives have been taken for training at various times, the industry does not get anyone trained.” It is not ensured that so much allocation for training goes, or that training is not done well. We cannot find skilled people for the industry. Many apps have also been created, apps that have no functionality. Common people cannot use these apps.
According to two officials of the ministry, the previous Ministers of State in the Department of Information and Communication Technology and the Department of Posts and Telecommunications have continued their activities as they please. And a leader of Jubo League used to exert influence at all stages from the tender to the implementation of the projects. They used to create different projects of their own. There was no feasibility study of these projects.
One example of this is the project titled ‘Enhancing Digital Government and Economy (EDGE)’. It is being implemented by the ICT Department with the joint cooperation of the World Bank and the Government of Bangladesh. Under this, 20 thousand IT graduates and budding students are supposed to be trained in 22 subjects of technology. Along with this, it aims to provide employment training for 80,000 graduates, prepare national job vacancies, establish smart leadership academy, create policies, increase the export income of the technology sector to $5 billion by 2025. There is some infrastructure development associated with it. To complete these activities, the expenditure has been estimated at Tk 2,541 crores. The project is still ongoing. But doubts remain among those concerned about achieving its goals.
If you want to know, the professor of Bangladesh University of Engineering Md. Hadiuzzaman told, “Training means knowledge transfer or knowledge exchange.” If this training does not have practical aspects then it is not sustainable. In most of the trainings we provide here, the trainees are not joining the job. Again, in many cases the senior officers take training, next day it is seen, he gets transferred. As a result, this training is of no use to him. For this, as the training recipient should be brought to productivity, at the same time policy decisions should be made as to what benefits will be given to the people through these trainings, how much business success and export potential. For this, ongoing projects have to be scrutinized.
He said, “Our policy makers are most interested in investing in the infrastructure sector. Because building infrastructure requires huge investment, there is scope for looting. We lacked long-term planning in these sectors. It is a colossal waste of public money. Many projects have been taken up with foreign aid, the burden of this debt has to be borne by the people. Now starting from fresh planning, manpower has to be prepared for sustainability.
One of the projects undertaken by the government is Joy Digital Service Employment and Training Center (DSET). At this center in Panchagarh, training for various courses including basic computer, freelancing was organized every three months, but currently it is locked. Its activities have been closed for a long time due to lack of entrepreneurs.
Training has been provided through projects such as education online, information technology through research and development, rate power, learning and earning development etc. to improve literacy skills.
Tk 330 crore project taken up for skill development of mobile games and applications. More than five hundred mobile applications have been developed under the project but these applications have not been updated. The people also did not benefit from it.
When asked to know, Nahid Islam, adviser to the interim government on postal, telecommunication and information technology, told, “The previous government took up unnecessary projects with people’s tax money.” We found, in many cases the feasibility of the project was not even verified. These projects are taken to benefit the party people through partyization of the ministry. By verifying the projects which are under implementation, we will build a new Bangladesh and strengthen the institutions. We will not let people’s hard-earned tax money go in vain.