Khandker Anwarul Islam, Cabinet Secretary today said tougher stance would be taken alongside conducting mobile court operations in the capital to make sure the use of facemasks in the wake of the fresh surge of the Covid-19.

“We have to go for stronger measures regarding the Covid-19 as it might have shown rising trend. On Sunday, an order has been given to take more pre-cautionary steps to this end,” he told a news briefing following a regular weekly cabinet meeting at the Bangladesh Secretariat here.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina chaired the meeting joining it through a videoconferencing from her official Ganabhaban residence while her cabinet colleagues attended the meeting from the Cabinet Division at the secretariat.

Anwarul added that they have already directed the concerned authority to conduct mobile court operations in different parts of the capital or take tougher stance to purse the government order regarding mandatory use of face masks.

Replying to a query, he said, “The mobile court operations will be in place in Dhaka in two or three days.

But people are largely ignoring the order on various pleas. To make sure the use of masks, mobile court operations are being conducted at different districts outside the capital following the order.

 Khandker Anwarul Islam said the Cabinet endorsed the draft of national nuclear and radiological emergencies preparedness and response plan in order to ensure safety measures for the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant.

Besides, the Cabinet approved the draft of the National Financial Inclusion Strategy to bring the maximum people under the financial accounting system and arrange the financial benefits for them, he added.

Both the Bengali and English version of the draft were cleared in the meeting.

The Cabinet Secretary said the five-year financial inclusion strategy is being taken for 2021-2025 to improve the life and living of the people specifically the poor by bringing them under all sorts of institutional financial services.

The Cabinet meeting also approved the ratification proposal of the draft of the ‘Agreement on Cooperation and Mutual Assistance in Customs Matters’ to be signed between Bangladesh and Turkey, he said.

In the meeting, the foreign minister said many Bangladeshi products don’t have access to Turkish market due to such an agreement.

The Cabinet Secretary said the country’s export to Turkey declined by more than US$ 100 million in the last two and three years. If the agreement is signed, the complimentary products from Bangladesh will get an advantage in Turkish market, he added.