Cultural affairs minister Nitai Roy Chowdhury on Thursday told Jatiya Sangsad that Bangladesh has a total of 1,650,159 people from national minority communities, according to the preliminary report of the Population and Housing Census 2022.
Responding to a question from Bangladesh Nationalist Party reserved seat lawmaker Selina Sultana, the minister said that there were 50 officially gazetted national minority groups under the Ethnic Minority Cultural Institutions Act.
He said that the total population, including listed and other communities, accounted for around 1 per cent of the country’s population.
According to the minister, the Chakma community is the largest national minority group, making up 29.29 per cent of the total population, or 483,299 people.
The Marma community accounts for 13.59 per cent or 224,261 people, the Tripura community 9.49 per cent or 156,578 people and the Santal community 7.82 per cent or 129,049 people.
The minister said that the highest concentration of national minority populations was in the Chattogram Division, with a total of 990,860 people.
In Rangamati, 22.60 per cent of the total national minority population lives there (372,864 people), while Khagrachhari hosts 21.17 per cent (349,378 people) and Bandarban accounts for 12 per cent (197,975 people).
Responding to a question from lawmaker Md Anwarul Islam of Kurigram-1, the minister said the government was working to promote reading habits and protect young people from drug abuse and cultural decline through various initiatives under the cultural affairs ministry.
He said a project titled ‘Establishment of Cultural Centres at Upazila Level’ is under preparation by Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy, which will include provisions for public library facilities.
The minister said that 76 mobile library vehicles were currently operating across 64 districts and 368 upazilas, reaching around 3,200 locations to promote reading habits, particularly among women and children, while also encouraging cultural activities among young people.
Responding to lawmaker Md Mustafizur Rahman Babul of Jamalpur-3, the minister said the government has a plan to expand cultural programmes in educational institutions to promote music and fine arts.
He said that musical instruments were being distributed in schools and colleges through Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy, while school and college-level theatre festivals and creative talent competitions were being organised.
Responding to lawmaker SM Jahangir Hossain of Dhaka-18, the minister said that his ministry was working to preserve national culture, heritage, history, and the spirit of the War of Liberation, as well as to promote free thinking and research-based cultural development.
He said that RAJUK has allocated 41 kathas of land in Sector 17 of Uttara for the construction of a cultural complex, and preparation of the development project proposal is currently under way.
