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The Planning Commission has returned a youth festival project proposal without initiating appraisal.
Titled "Inspiring Youth for Nation Building through Organising Youth Festival," the proposal was submitted by the Ministry of Youth and Sports.
Officials said the proposal does not comply with the structural criteria of development projects processed under the Planning Commission framework.
Moreover, processing such a project would be time-consuming.
In light of these observations, the Programming Division of the commission has advised the ministry to carry out the planned activities under the festival through allocations from the revenue budget instead of pursuing it as a development project.
The letter issued by Fatema, senior assistant chief at the Planning Commission, states that the major components of the project - such as youth summit, event management, and other festivals - fall under the category of revenue expenditure rather than development spending.
It further said the activities outlined in the project should be implemented through the revenue budget.
Following the ouster of then prime minister Sheikh Hasina in August last year amid student-led protests against inequality, the interim government undertook a series of initiatives aimed at supporting the youth, particularly student activists.
In the national budget for the current fiscal year, Finance Adviser Dr Salehuddin Ahmed earmarked Tk 1.0 billion for organising a youth festival.
Officials said the project was proposed to utilise this allocation under the revenue budget.
A senior official at the Programming Division of the Planning Commission said they first carry out preliminary screening when a new project proposal is submitted.
The approval process formally begins only if the proposal passes the initial scrutiny. However, this particular project was dropped even before entering the approval stage, the official added.
In December 2024, the government organised the Festival of Youth 2025, which initially concluded in February this year.
But in line with a government decision, the festival was later extended until December 31, according to the Chief Adviser's press wing.
With the theme "Let's Change the Country, Let's Change the World," the festival aimed to inspire unity, cooperation, and self-reliance among the youth.
In its first phase, over 7.17 million young people - 2.74 million women and 4.42 million men - participated in 13,711 events, including 2,931 programmes arranged exclusively for women.
District sports offices also held U-17 football tournaments nationwide, with 25,600 female athletes taking part in 855 matches.
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