A Memorandum of Understanding has been signed between Central Biometric Verification Platform (CBVMP) solution of Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) and Integrated Budget and Accounting System (iBAS++) of Finance Department under the program titled ‘Strengthening Public Expenditure Management: Ensuring Continuity of Priority Activities (PEMS)’.
On Sunday morning in the main conference room of BTRC, the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed by, Director General of Systems and Services Department of BTRC Brigadier General Md. Nasim Parvez and Additional Secretary of Finance Department Begum Nazma Mubarak on behalf of their respective organizations. Chairman of the Commission Shyam Sundar Sikder presided over the ceremony.
As per MoU, to verify mobile number registered with customer’s national identity card for direct financial support through electronic fund transfer to mobile accounts of various beneficiaries under G2P system under Strengthening Public Financial Management Program to Annual Service Delivery (SPFMS) program under Finance Department will be integrated with iBAS++. Besides, verification of mobile numbers registered with customer’s NID for accurate direct sending via EFT to mobile accounts of various beneficiaries (corona affected beneficiaries, social security program beneficiaries, primary school teachers’ salary, pensioners’ pension, government employees’ salary etc.) at the fastest time through iBAS++ will be done.
At the beginning of the event, Vice-Chairman of the Commission Subrata Roy Maitra said that the aim of establishing Digital Bangladesh is to eliminate poverty and inequality from the country by using digital tools and fulfill the basic needs of the people. Keeping this goal in mind, different types of digital systems and services are being developed in various ministries, offices, organizations of the government to carry out official activities and provide citizen services. The technical partnership between IBAS++ and CBVMP systems implemented by the Finance Department is an initiative that, if fruitful, will lead to a state-of-the-art digital system that is rich in information.
Later, various technical, service and other aspects of the contract were discussed in detail by Director General of Systems and Services Department of BTRC Brigadier General Md. Nasim Parvez.
Additional Secretary of Finance Department Begum Najma Mubarak said that there are various social safety net programs adopted by the government which are about 18 percent of the total budget. In the absence of a technical platform for proper utilization of this huge amount of money, identification of financial service beneficiaries becomes complicated and real beneficiaries are deprived. As per the agreement, the National Identity Card and Mobile Number of the Social Safety Net Program and Pension beneficiaries will be verified through the CBVMP platform of BTRC and the genuine beneficiaries will get their due benefits.
In the president’s speech, BTRC Chairman Shyam Sundar Sikder said that BTRC is working as a backbone in the progress of telecommunication and information technology sector. Stating that various institutions of the government are benefiting from the use of CBVMP, he further said that besides upgrading the country’s telecommunication infrastructure, BTRC has been providing maximum non-tax revenue to the government treasury every year.
Commissioner (Engineering and Operations) Engineer Md. Mohiuddin Ahmed, Commissioner (Legal and Licensing) Abu Syed Dilzar Hossain, Director General (Administration) Md. Delwar Hossain, Director General (Spectrum) Brigadier General Mohammad Moniruzzaman Jewel, Director General (Legal and Licensing) among others on the occasion. Ashish Kumar Kundu, Director General (Finance, Accounts and Revenue) Engineer Md. Mesbahuzzaman, Secretary (BTRC) Md. Nurul Hafeez along with senior officials of BTRC and iBAS++ were present.