PM to take stock of situation at tomorrow’s cabinet meeting

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is going to hold a cabinet meeting tomorrow, days after the country went through unprecedented violence centring quota reform protests.
Hasina, who is leading the cabinet for the fourth consecutive terms, will sit with her cabinet members during the curfew break.
“She never holds cabinet meeting in such a situation,” a top bureaucrat said, wishing anonymity.
The cabinet meeting will be held at the Prime Minister’s Office tomorrow, some 28 days after the previous meeting held on July 1.
Sources said ministries and divisions concerned are likely to place the rough estimate of the damages their subordinate offices and departments faced during the violence.
Hasina, who has already visited several such sites, including two metro rail stations, Setu Bhaban, BRTA headquarters, toll plazas of Dhaka Elevated Expressway, is expected to give directives on how to repair those and resume operations, they said.
A chief of an agency under the Road Transport and Bridges Ministry told The Daily Star that they would submit a report about the damages to the ministry, and its secretary is expected to submit the report before the cabinet.
“We hope the prime minister will give necessary directives in this regard and we will follow it,” he said.
Each cabinet meeting usually has two parts. One is formal when secretaries and high officials of different ministries and divisions concerned take part and usually submit their proposals for approval.
After the formal meeting, government officials leave the meeting room and the PM and ministers discuss the contemporary and important issues. Then the PM gives necessary instructions.
Sources said the cabinet division is expected to submit the second quarterly (April-June) report on the implementation of the decisions taken by the cabinet-meeting this year.
Secretaries of several ministries and divisions, who have no particular agenda for tomorrow’s meeting, were also invited to attend it given the current situation.
The country witnessed unprecedented violence over the last week centring the quota reform protests. The demonstration turned violent on July 15 when Chhatra League attacked the protesting students at various campuses.
Violence escalated in Dhaka and other parts of country, leaving at least 162 people were killed (according to The Daily Star’s count; the actual number may be higher) and several thousand injured in clashes between police, BGB, ruling party men and agitators.
The government has imposed a curfew and deployed army across the country from early July 20. The authority is gradually relaxing the curfew as the situation is improving.
The curfew break will be from 7:00am to 6:00pm tomorrow in Dhaka.