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The Medical Education and Family Welfare Division under the health ministry has proposed a project to reconstruct 592 union health and family planning centres at an estimated cost of Tk 22.304 billion in the first phase.
Once completed, the two-storey centres, originally established nationwide in the mid-1960s, will offer medical services 24/7 to approximately 20 million marginalised people.
In addition to general healthcare, they will provide family planning, maternal and child health services, and adolescent care, including antenatal care, delivery, and postnatal care.
However, the project has been criticised by the planning commission for the unusually higher construction cost of the main buildings compared to that in similar schemes.
The estimated cost of constructing each two-storey building, covering an area of 622.55 square metres, stands at Tk 40.64 million, translating into Tk 65,276 per square metre, said commission officials.
A recent project evaluation committee (PEC) meeting, organised by the Socio-Economic Infrastructure Division of the commission, sought justification for the unusually high cost estimates for several components proposed for the project.
The meeting, chaired by the division's Member (Secretary) Dr Quayyum Ara Begum, sent back the project proposal to the health ministry with a recommendation to reduce component-wise costs, said a high official.
Planning commission officials pointed out that the health ministry has proposed Tk 296 million for procuring medical waste disposal units, with each unit priced at Tk 0.50 million.
Additionally, the proposed furniture cost of Tk 2.65 million per centre was deemed excessively high by officials at the PEC meeting.
An analysis of the proposal for the Development of Selected Private Secondary Schools (1st Revision) project revealed that Tk 92.94 billion has been allocated to develop a total of 4.47 million square metres of school buildings, costing Tk 20,788 per square metre. In contrast, the per square metre cost of constructing the health centres is more than three times as much.
Officials noted the school building project has been underway since 2018 and is scheduled for completion by June this year.
"While it is reasonable for health centre construction costs to be slightly higher than that of school buildings, a 3.14-time increase is unjustifiable," said an official of the planning ministry.
"The project area is home to more than 20 million people, primarily from low-income communities. Among them, there are over four million able-bodied couples, more than two million pregnant mothers, approximately 4.5 million adolescents, and around 150,000 children under the age of five," said the project feasibility report.
Rebuilding the union health and family planning centres will particularly benefit these mothers, children, and adolescents, ensuring their better access to essential healthcare services, it said.
As the project targets remote rural areas, it will exclusively serve populations that are currently deprived of adequate healthcare facilities, it added.
The project has proposed an executive table for each centre at an estimated cost of Tk 55,086. Additionally, a steel revolving tilting chair for each centre has been priced at Tk 36,269, among other items with high cost estimations.