In the parliament, the ‘no’ vote turns ‘yes’
The proposal to send the a2i bill to the public opinion verification and selection committee was rejected by the ‘no’ vote. After that, the a2i Act was passed by the Parliament with a ‘yes’ vote. Although section 7 of the bill was accepted, the proposal to take into account section 12/d and 21 was requested to be reconsidered.
However, stating that the proponents did not bring the amendment in a written statement, ICT State Minister Zunaid Ahmed Palak said, ‘Most of the objections raised today have been met. But they did not bring the objection in the amendment. The statement given orally could have been taken into account if given in writing. Moreover, I don’t think the demand they raised in the public opinion poll is logical.’
However, rejecting the apprehensions expressed in the scrutiny, the state minister said that digital Bangladesh is a reality today under the visionary leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and the brilliant leadership of her competent information and communication technology advisor Sajeeb Wazed Joy. Prime Minister through a2i from the PMO office presented a unique strategy on the bottom up approach of a2i. After that unique common strategy took a groundbreaking initiative on November 11, 2010 by setting up a digital center through the a2i project. The a2i project has a unique general role in building Digital Bangladesh. But we were not able to retain A2I resources. So we got this proposal from Sajeeb Wazed Joy to build Innovative Nation. It has been in consultation for two years. Most of the objections have been met.
The a2i has already provided 4.09 billion services, reduced 7.47 billion visits, saved 12.23 billion working hours and saved 16.62 billion US dollars, said Palak, if a2i get established as an agency; It will play an important role in building a smart society., Smart Citizen, Smart Economy, Smart Government by 2041.
The state minister also said that with the policy support of the Prime Minister, as many as 7 and a half lakh jobs have been created by technology organizations.
He said, in Article 21 there is an opportunity to form a company ‘if necessary’. And in order to do this company, it has to be passed by the Council of Ministers again.
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Earlier on Wednesday evening in the 23rd session of the 11th National Parliament, questions, queries and answers, drawing attention to matters of urgent public importance (Rule-71), presentation of committee reports and the State Minister for ICT in legislative functions. Meanwhile, the Agency to Innovate (a2i) Bill has been presented as a supporter in developing an innovative culture based on IT services and establishing a knowledge-based society in Bangladesh with the recommendation of the Parliamentary Standing Committee.
After that, Mymensingh 8 MP Fakhrul Imam, Sylhet 2 MP Mokabbir Khan, Gaibandha Shamim Haider Patwari, Pirojpur 3 MP Rustam Ali Faraji, Kishoreganj 3 MP Mujibul Haque, Sunamganj 4 MP proposed the a2i 2023 Bill. Pir Fazlur Rahman, Member of Jatiya Party’s reserved women’s seat Roshan Ara Mannan, Dhaka 6 Member of Parliament Gazi Firoz Rashid, Bogra-7 Member of Parliament Rezaul Karim Bablu and Thakurgaon-3 Member of Parliament Hafiz Uddin Ahmed.
Among them, Fakhrul Imam said, he has contributed to making Bangladesh digital. Smart Bangladesh will be implemented based on this. But agency will transform it into a business entity. As a result, this organization will be able to do consultancy and contracting work. Because of this BASIS, BCS, ISPAB, e-CAB, BACCO 5 technical organizations have given a letter objecting. There were 10 amendments. Although consent is expressed on 3 points. 12/h is not excluded. There is still an opportunity to form a company under section 21. If the agency can make itself a company, it will get a monopoly on government procurement. In this, public-private joint partnerships will be conflicting.
On the other hand Mokabbir Khan a2i Bill is a good initiative but needs to be passed with time and not haste. Compassion towards each other is eroding due to digital dependence. Cybercrime is increasing. Digital security in digital services is not included in the bill. Therefore, even if one section is done, the remaining two sections are not cancelled. Hope the proposal will be considered.
Similarly, Pir Fazlur Rahman demanded the cancellation of Article 21. Addressing the Minister of State for ICT, he said, Facebook is destroying our country from outside the country. So they will give importance to setting up office in Bangladesh.
Roshan Ara Mannan also spoke against the bill. She also criticized the Digital Security Act.
Other proponents were not absent from Parliament. Dr. Shirin Sharmin Chowdhury The speaker presided over the parliament. .
It is worth noting that, the passed a2i 2023 bill states that after the implementation of this law, the government will establish an agency called a2i through a gazette notification. Agency shall be a statutory body. The organization will have a board of directors of 15 members. The Minister of Information and Communication Technology or the Minister of State or the Deputy Minister will be its chairman.
After the formation of the government in 2009, the Access to Information (A2I) program was launched to implement Digital Bangladesh under the Prime Minister’s Office with funding from the United Nations Development Programme-UNDP. Later, under the direction of the Prime Minister in 2018, the A2I program was assigned as an under-implementation project under the Information and Communication Technology Department and the Cabinet Department. Access to Information (A2I) was renamed Aspire to Innovate (a2i) in 2020. Currently, it is implementing various innovative activities to build Smart Bangladesh as a program under the Information and Communication Technology Division and Cabinet Department and supported by UNDP.