Networking Govt Offices
Chinese firm to get the job
A Chinese company is going to get the job of connecting the public administration up to the upazila level with the capital by establishing an information network.
The cabinet committee on purchase may approve today the proposal of awarding the job worth Tk 1,087 crore [$133 million] to the company. Bangladesh has taken the amount as loan from the Chinese Exim Bank.
According to the Ministry of Information & Communication Technology (ICT) proposal, the project will bring all government offices at district and upazila levels under the network, which would also provide video-conference facilities.
The project will connect 55 government offices in each district and 30 at each upazila to the single network based on internet.
Video-conference facilities will be set up at 800 points including the offices of 421 upazila nirbahi officers throughout the country.
Training laboratories will also be set up at Bangladesh Computer Council (BCC), Bangladesh Telecommunications Company Ltd (BTCL) and 12 public and private universities for building up expert human resources for maintenance of the installations and equipment.
Moreover, data centres will be strengthened, disaster recovery centres constructed and wireless network set up at Bangladesh Secretariat for introduction of e-governance.
Besides, tablet and personal computers will be given to the government officials.
As per the contract, the Chinese company would supply and set up equipment and do the related works of the project.
Earlier in May, the government signed an agreement with the Chinese Exim Bank regarding the loan, which has an interest rate of 2 percent. The total amount is repayable within 20 years including five years’ grace period.
The project is scheduled to be completed by June 2015. Officials say it has been undertaken as a part of the government’s election pledge of building Digital Bangladesh by 2021.
The work of the project has been prepared in coordination with the Access to Information project under the Prime Minister’s Office, the 3G project launched by state-run Teletalk and the video-conferencing project by the Cabinet Division.
-With The Independent input
