Maiden meeting of new cabinet begins

The maiden meeting of the new cabinet led by prime minister Sheikh Hasina began at the Prime Minister’s Office in Dhaka on Monday.

‘The meeting chaired by the prime minister commenced at 10:00am at the PMO at Tejgaon in the capital,’ a source at the PMO said.

Speaking on the occasion, the prime minister asked her cabinet colleagues to discharge their duties with utmost honesty and sincerity to achieve the government’s goal of establishing Bangladesh as a hunger and poverty-free developed and prosperous country.

At the outset of the meeting, cabinet secretary Mohammad Shafiul Alam greeted the prime minister by presenting her with a bouquet, the source said.

Awami League President Sheikh Hasina took oath as the prime minister for the fourth time, the third in a row, heading a 47-member council of ministers on January 7, a week after the Awami League-led alliance’s landslide victory in the 11th parliamentary elections held on December 30.

The new cabinet comprising 24 ministers, 19 state ministers and three deputy ministers took oath at a state ceremony at Bangabhaban Darbar Hall on January 7 afternoon.

President M Abdul Hamid administered the oath of office and oath of secrecy to Sheikh Hasina and members of her council of ministers.

News Courtesy: www.newagebd.net