Passport fee will be reduced for expatriate workers, i.e. remittance warriors, Home Affairs Advisor Lieutenant General Md. Jahangir Alam Chowdhury (retd.) has said.
The advisor made this statement while briefing reporters after the meeting of the Core Committee on Law and Order at the conference room of the Home Ministry at the Bangladesh Secretariat this afternoon.
The advisor said, expatriates are the lifeblood of our economy. Therefore, it has been decided to reduce the passport fee for them to a reasonable level. He said, expatriates usually try to travel by Bangladesh Airlines. Because it is easier to understand their language on the plane and they can eat local food. That is why we are trying to improve the quality of the plane’s service.
Lieutenant General Md. Jahangir Alam Chowdhury (retd.) said, e-gates will be introduced soon at Shahjalal (r.) International Airport. Efforts are being made to launch the e-gate within this week. Those who have e-passports will be able to enter through the e-gate by showing their passports. He said that the e-passport program will be launched in all Bangladesh missions abroad by December this year.
In response to journalists’ questions about the fire at the cargo village of Shahjalal International Airport, the advisor said that a meeting was held in the Cabinet Division yesterday in this regard. A high-level committee has been formed there under the leadership of the Home Secretary. They will investigate the cause of the accident and recommend necessary measures.
In response to the question of whether there are doubts or challenges regarding the elections, the advisor said that there are no doubts about this, but there are challenges. And to face this challenge, training has been arranged for the law enforcement agencies, which has never been done before. Moreover, efforts are being made to keep those who have served in the last three national elections as far away from this election as possible.
Special Assistant to the Principal Advisor on Defense and National Integration Development (State Minister’s rank) Lieutenant General (retd) Abdul Hafiz ndc, IGP Baharul Alam BPM, BGB Director General Major General Mohammad Ashrafuzzaman Siddiqui ndc, among others, were present at the briefing.