KHULNA: Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, President of the Awami League, today [Feb 8] appealed to the Government to defer the launching of the Fourth Five-Year Plan ... Addressing a big public meeting at the Circuit House Maidan, the Awami League leader said the present “interim Government” should execute the unfulfilled part — Rs 1,100 crores allocated to East Pakistan under Third Plan — before launching the Fourth Plan.

Mujib gave an account of the total disparities and said every time the allocation for the province was allowed to lapse while that for West Wing was fully utilised ... Although Indus waters dispute was settled with India the dispute of sharing water of the eastern rivers was not done. Similarly, he said it was difficult to accept that the fund could not be available for flood control in East Pakistan...

Mujib said his party was not opposed to West Pakistan investment but to the flight of capital from this province. “This was one of the ­methods of exploitation through which the province suffered for the last 22 years ...” He appealed to the Government to make public what happened to the huge donation running into crores made to War Purposes Fund opened by the previous Government.

Published in Dawn, February 9th, 2020