Bangladesh links villages to internet

DHAKA, BANGLADESH: Bangladesh Thursday launched rural information service centres to connect villages to the internet to give ordinary people the benefits of information technology.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wazed opened the Union Information Service Centre for 4,501 local government units across Bangladesh by talking to United Nations Development Programme chief Helen Clark, who is travelling in the southern part of the country, via a video conference from her office in Dhaka.

"The centres will help people get most public services at the rural level through information technology," the premier said, adding that it would help achieve her vision for Digital Bangladesh by 2021.

The centres will provide all government forms, public notifications and gazettes, birth and death registration information, passport and visa support, information on public examinations, new jobs, laws, health and agricultural, and disaster management among others.

These centres will also provide commercial services and social services to residents.

All unions - the lowest tier of local government - are now linked to the internet.