Jumbangla Desk: Half of the 22 projects of 25 thousand crore rupees taken in the information and technology sector have been looted. The investigation committee was surprised to see this image. These loots were led by the former Minister of State for Information and Communication Technology Junaid Ahmed Palak. Details from Bangladesh daily report-

The investigation committee said, almost every project has found evidence of looting. Purchased at sky high prices. A lot has been spent. Now they are calculating how many crores of rupees have been stolen.

Final report will be submitted soon . The investigators said that no trace of money can be found in the investigation. The State Minister was in direct contact with each of the 22 projects. No money was released for those projects without his instructions. Project Directors (PD) used to regularly attend the State Minister's office. There he used to hold closed door meetings. Any decision of the meeting was not allowed to be published outside. So the cat has been wrapped in a bag for so long. The August 5 pot change is bringing out the cat in the bag called corruption of huge projects.

On coming to power, the interim government constituted a high-level seven-member committee headed by an additional secretary to look into irregularities and corruption in projects in the postal, telecommunication and information and communication technology sectors. The committee also has audit experts, legal experts.

Sources said that immediately after receiving the report of the investigation committee, Advisor Nahid Islam will hold a press conference to highlight the details of the corruption. In relation to the overall aspect of the investigation, Additional Secretary (Planning and Development Division) Mahbubur Rahman, Head of the Investigation Committee said, '21 PDs were called. Their statements have been heard. We have seen various types of corruption and irregularities in almost every project. At the time of investigation, instructions have been given to eliminate the unnecessary amount of money in most of the projects. This has saved the government a huge amount of money.'

"There is something surprising about some of the figures in almost all project budgets," he said. We see the cat coming out of the bag of corruption. A number of future projects undertaken outside the ongoing project are also being investigated. I am getting the image of Horilut in those projects as well. So far 10-12 projects have been dropped.'

He said, "If we talk about reforms, we will say that the real reforms are taking place in this sector." The project stakeholders said that they are accountable to the investigation committee. The committee is giving instructions to cut the budget of some projects. They are raising questions about the purchase of these projects. Besides, they are also making detailed inquiries about those who have been given various tasks.

In the information and communication technology sector, 22 projects were taken up during the tenure of the previous Awami League government. Among these projects, projects worth 19 thousand crores are implemented under the Directorate of Information and Communication Technology. Bangladesh Computer Council (BCC) implemented six projects worth 5,500 crore rupees. According to the findings, most of the 22 projects were taken up in 2016. Some projects have a tenure of up to 2027. In some projects, the amount of money allocated is increased in several steps. Each project is decided by the policy makers of the government. The money for these projects was exempted by their direct decision. The work of supplying project equipment was given to the company of their choice. Because there is a sure chance of looting in the system of buying from preferred institutions.

Projects under investigation: Tk 330 crore mobile games and application skill development project, Tk 855 crore Aspire to Innovate (A2I), Tk 27 crore initiation-skill development education online, Tk 442 crore establishment of Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development Academy (Third Revised) , Enrichment of Bengali Language in Information Technology (First Revised) through research and development of Tk 158 crore, Digital Sylhet City project of Tk 30 crore (Second Revised), Tk 504 Crore Connectivity to Underprivileged Areas (Connected Bangladesh) Project, Tk 167 Crore BGD-E-Government Capacity Building Project, Tk 2,541 Crore Enhancing Digital Government and Economy (EDGE) Project, Tk 49 Crore Government Video Conferencing Platform Strengthening Scheme, 8 crores Tucker Partnerships for a More Tolerant, Inclusive Bangladesh (PTIB). Apart from this, Sheikh Kamal IT Training and Incubation Center (11) project of Tk 837 crore under Bangladesh Hi-Tech Park Authority (first revised), setting up IT/Hi-Tech Parks at district level of Tk 1,886 crore (in 12 districts) (first revised). , Tk 533 crore Sheikh Kamal IT Training and Incubation Center Establishment (Second Revised) Project, Tk 431 crore Bangabandhu Hi-Tech Supporting Infrastructure Construction Project of City-II (Second Revised), Digital Entrepreneurship and Innovation Eco-System Development Project of Tk 353 crore, Project on Establishment of Bangladesh-India Digital Services and Employment Training (BDSET) Center of Tk 74 crore, 1,534 crore Sheikh Hasina Institute of Frontier Technology of Tk., Sheikh Kamal IT Training and Incubation Center of Tk. 1 thousand 114 crore (14 projects).

Apart from this, the three projects of the Directorate of Information and Communication Technology include the 936-crore Digital Labs in Educational Institutions Project (Second Phase), the 5,923-crore Digital Connectivity (EDC) Project and the 287-crore Rate Power Project: Women's Empowerment through Technology-II Phase project. BCC's six projects include Tk 271 crore innovation and entrepreneurship development academy establishment project, Tk 159 crore enrichment of Bengali language in information technology project, Tk 504 crore Connected Bangladesh project, Tk 2,141 crore BGD E-Govt. Shirt Project, Government Video Conferencing Platform Strengthening Project of Tk 47 Crore and Digital Government and Economy Strengthening Project of Tk 2,541 Crore.

There is silence in the powerful houses of the Sheikh family