Several lawmakers on Thursday in the parliament criticised the health ministry for corruption, irregularities and mismanagement.

Bikalpa Dhara Bangladesh lawmaker Abdul Mannan while taking part in the general discussion on the proposed national budget for financial year 2021-22 said that people witnessed corruption, irregularities and a massive mismanagement in the health sector.

 
‘The spending of budgetary allocation by the health ministry is frustrating. Because of the shortage of skills and capacity, the ministry has failed to spend the allocation,’ he said.

Such failure of an important sector like health ministry is not acceptable, he said.

Bangladesh Workers Party lawmaker Lutfun Nesa Khan said that huge corruption had taken place in the procurement process of the health sector.

She said that the allocation for the ministry was not adequate compared with its need.

She urged the government to increase the budget allocation for the health sector to tackle the Covid pandemic.

Jatiya Party lawmaker Rowshan Ara Mannan demanded immediate vaccination of all sections of people, including students.

She said that the budget had given privilege to businesspeople and at the same time, incentives had not been provided to lower income people who are mostly vulnerable in the Covid pandemic.

Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury expunged the remarks of opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party lawmaker Md Harunur Rashid in which he had claimed that he was the leader of opposition in the parliament.

The speaker expunged the remarks responding to protests of opposition Jatiya Party lawmakers in Jatiya Sangsad.