Chittagong Hill Tracts Affairs Minister Bir Bahadur Ushwe Sing MP said the country is moving ahead today due to the courageous steps of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, equal development is taking in the hills and plains area. The mountains are no longer backward towns. Minister Bir Bahadur said the active participation of women in the hill region has strengthened the fear of the country's economy. He said the women are playing a major role in protecting the environment and social and economic development in the hilly areas. Women are the protectors of mountain resources.
CHT Minister Bir Bahadur said this while speaking as the chief guest at a discussion meeting organized on the occasion of International Mountain Day at the meeting room of the Ministry of Chittagong Hill Tracts Affairs at the Secretariat.
Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change Iqbal Abdullah Harun spoke as the main discussant. The Secretary of the Ministry of Chittagong Hill Tracts Affairs Mosammat Hamida Begum was in the chair in the programme.
Chittagong Hill Tracts Development Board Chairman Nikhil Kumar Chakma, Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Chittagong Hill Tracts Affairs Satyendra Kumar Sarker, Joint Secretary (Administration) of the Ministry of Chittagong Hill Tracts Affairs Aleya Akhter, Chief Executive Officer of The Chittagong Hill Tracts Regional Council Rangamati Titon Khisa, Executive Chief Officer of the Task Force on Refugees Krishna Chandra Chakma, Executive Director of Helen Keller International Ms Han Han, among others, spoke on the occasion. Female entrepreneur Bibli Chakma was present. Deputy Secretary of the Ministry of Chittagong Hill Tracts Affairs Sajal Kanti Banik moderated the programme.
Minister Bir Bahadur said women are the protectors of mountain resources and local medical servants. The role of women in the cultivation of jhum in the hills is very much.
Hill women collect water from the hill springs and meet the water needs of other members of the family. Mountain women are becoming farmers, mountain women as businessmen, mountain women as craftsmen, entrepreneurs and community leaders. Hill women will become the driving force against hunger, malnutrition and poverty.
The present Awami League government led by Hon'ble Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is determined for the overall development of the greater hill region. Every disaster that has taken place in the hilly areas in the past has been dealt with by the government in a coordinated manner with utmost determination. Every public and private organization has worked tirelessly for the safety of life and property in the hill areas.
I think it's a coordinated initiative. You must be aware that it was possible to conclude the historic peace agreement on December 2, 1997, due to the determination and timely initiative of Honorable Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the worthy daughter of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. With the signing of this historic peace agreement, the two-decade-long conflict situation came to an end. Since then, lasting peace has been established in the mountainous region. As a result, new horizons of sustainable development have been opened in the hill areas. Opportunities have been created for public-private, national and international institutions to carry out development work in the hilly areas. As a result, the overall development of the hill region has accelerated.
Speaking on the occasion, Secretary of the Ministry of Chittagong Hill Tracts Affairs Mosammat Hamida Begum said, "The pregnant women carry the burden on their backs and climb the steep hills with their children on their shoulders, while the women are climbing the hills with water on their heads, and in different pictures, we see them cultivating jhum. There is a presence of women in every field. The mountain cannot be thought of as its existence without women. Women exist everywhere.