Stay alert so dev drive on superhighway not derailed: PM.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Thursday renewed her vows for tougher and continued crusade against corruption for expediting development and sought people's vigil against any impediment to upset the nation's journey forward.

'There are elements who look for ways to grab people's wealth using different techniques, (but) we have taken strict stance against corruption,' she said in a nationwide televised address coinciding with the beginning of the third year of the third term of her government.

Sheikh Hasina said the corrupt elements,

irrespective of their political or party

links and influence, 'are not being and

will not be' spared in order to clear the

development-highway obstacles and reminded

all that the Anti-Corruption Commission

was carrying on its mission 'independently'.

The premier simultaneously sought

everyone's sharp vigil against any

obstacle that could hinder the rapidness

of the current development pace, saying

the nation now embarked on a journey on

the development superhighway.

'We are firmly committed to removing all

hurdles on the way of development,' she

said, adding that, at the same time, her

government would do everything needed to

ensure people's civic and democratic

rights, upholding the rule of law.

Sheikh Hasina said her government

prevented the rise of militancy with an

iron hand and kept its cultural and

spiritual heritage of being a nation of

interfaith harmony.

'The followers of all religious faiths and

castes have been living together

maintaining mutual respect and they will

do so in the future as well,' she said.

The premier said the COVID-19 pandemic

left a huge scar throughout the globe when

the cyclone Amphan, repeated and prolonged

flooding alongside the pandemic exposed

Bangladesh economy to a deeper crisis,

which 'we managed to overcome with

firmness'.

'The world is yet to be freed from the

coronavirus crisis (but) by the grace of

Almighty Allah the death rate and

infection rate caused by the pandemic

continued to remain much low in

Bangladesh,' she said.

Sheikh Hasina said her government put in

its all efforts to contain the pandemic

and ensure the import of its vaccine as

quick as possible.

'Frontline warriors like physicians,

health workers, and law-enforcement-agency

members will have the priority in getting

the inoculate as soon as the vaccines are

available' in the country, the premier

said.

She reiterated her clarion call upon all

to follow health guidelines, meanwhile,

such as the wearing of facemasks properly.

The premier said Bangladesh kept

stabilized its economic performance

defying COVID-19 onslaughts and,

'according to our estimates, this year our

GDP growth rate will stand at 7.4 percent.

She said different international agencies

predicted Bangladesh to be on top of the

countries with higher GDP growth in Asia

while the International Monitory Fund

(IMF) report said Bangladesh was third top

scorer among the nations across the globe.

Sheikh Hasina pointed out that the

Bangladesh GDP last year grew by 5.24

percent when the per-capita income stood

at US$2,064.

The new year in the Gregorian calendar

marked the beginning of the third year of

the incumbent government's current term

when the nation awaited golden-jubilee

celebrations of independence amidst Father

of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur

Rahman.

'The coming March 26 will mark the golden

jubilee of our Independence. We will

celebrate it with all festivity,

InshaAllah, if the coronavirus disappears.

Simultaneously the Father of the Nation's

birth-centenary functions will continue,'

the premier said.

The Prime Minister said that a remarkable

development since her government's

assumption of power in 2009 by now was

established Bangladesh as a self-dignified

country on the...