Stand beside people instead of hosting Iftar parties: PM

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday called for standing beside the common people as much as possible during Ramadan.
She made this appeal, while chairing the Cabinet meeting held at her office in the city.
Cabinet Secretary Mahbub Hossain briefed reporters after the meeting at the Bangladesh Secretariat.
“Today the Prime Minister has made an appeal. She earlier gave a decision not to arrange iftar parties. (Today) She said those who are eager or have resouces should stand by the people as per their capacity. If needed, they should stand by the common people with the money they are eager to spend for the Iftar parties,” said Mahbub, report agencies.
Besides, the premier issued two specific directives for the authorities concerned — one is to develop agriculture-based cooperatives and the second one is to construct modern preservation storages in the country’s eight divisions to preserve agro-goods, he said.
She directed the Agriculture Ministry and the Rural Development and Cooperatives Division to develop agriculture-based cooperatives in line with the dream of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
The construction of modern preservation storages will help control unusual price-hikes of some goods and maintain the normal supply of the products in the market during the off-season.
The PM said the modern preservation storages should have separate chambers for different agricultural goods, according to the cabinet secretary.