By AKM Kamal Uddin Chowdhury 

DHAKA, Sept. 19, 2021 (BSS) – Abu Sufian, a middle aged rural man, wanted to make a passport to materialize his long wishes of performing hajj, but he had no idea about how to make the passport and he had also little knowledge about internet.

As per the suggestion of his younger son, he visited the Bangladesh National Portal and found the Department of Immigration and Passport. From the website, he had been able to know all rules about making a passport.

"The portal has made easy to know the way of making passport. As per the rules, I have been able to  make my passport easily and now the process of going to perform the hajj is underway. I want to express my gratitude to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina as she took steps to build Digital Bangladesh,” said Abu Sufian, a dweller of a remote village under Sonagazi Upazila in Feni district.

Tania Ferdous, a young woman, took the birth registration certificate of her new born baby through taking help from the national portal. She visited the national portal and entered the Office of the Registrar General, birth and death registration. That time, she completed online registration and after a few days, she received the birth registration certificate through her Union Parishad.

“For the national portal, I didn’t face any problem to find out the site of birth registration. The process of online form is very easy. Actually, I received my new born baby’s birth registration certificate within a short time and without any hassle,” said Tania. 
 
Mohammad Rafiq, a farmer of the remote village Bijoy Kara under the Chauddagram upazila in Comilla district, faced problems as his crops were infested with insects. 

He used many things to save his crops and also took suggestions from the nearest ones. At last, as per his school going son's suggestion, he went to the Union Digital Centre (UDC) and visited the Bangladesh National Portal. Through the portal, he entered Agriculture Portal and submitted a question regarding his problem. 

As per the suggestion of the Agriculture specialist, he made his crops insects free within a short time.

“For the portal, I was able to save my crops from insects. Now, I am able to take pre-preparation for keeping my crops insects free,” said farmer Mohammad Rafiq.

Not only Abu Sufian, Tania Ferdous and Mohammed Rafiq, thousands of people across the country are taking benefits from over 51,500 websites of the Bangladesh National Portal.

Talking to BSS, National Portal Implementation Specialist of the a2i Md Doulutuzzaman Khan said in an effort to centralize all the information regarding Bangladesh government, such as names, addresses and contact method of availing services in all the ministries and departments, the government has launched the national portal. 

All the information of over 51,500 government offices, including different ministries, departments, initiatives in union, district and division levels, are available in the website, he added. 

He said that the information is presented systematically, using a top down approach, for example: Ministry, Division, District, town and so on. 

Md. Doulutuzzaman Khan said Bangladesh has set an example in the world incorporating over 51,500 websites in one web platform. 

He stated that Bangladesh government has made it possible to reduce the digital divide between the rural and urban and this portal will create a multiplier effect to ensure the rights of the public to information. 

He informed that people, not only in Bangladesh, but also all over the world, are receiving the services from the national portal through different missions of the Bangladesh government. 

The government inaugurated the Bangladesh National Portal in 2014.