Politics

Prime Minister Tarique Rahman sets clean-up deadlines after surprise visits to 13 Dhaka sites

The prime minister gave Kuwait Bangladesh Friendship Government Hospital seven days and Azimpur government quarters two weeks to improve, during a four-and-a-half-hour round of unannounced inspections.

ScrollBeat DeskPublished: 17 Oct 2026, 22:26

Prime Minister Tarique Rahman addressing the nation in Dhaka on 18 February 2026 (file photo). Rahman carried out surprise visits to 13 government establishments and public spaces across the city on 17 October 2026 to inspect cleanliness and services. Press Information Department, Government of Bangladesh / Wikimedia Commons

Prime Minister Tarique Rahman made unannounced visits to 13 government establishments and public spaces across Dhaka on Saturday and gave several of them deadlines to fix poor cleanliness and management.

The tour began at 9:10am and ended at 1:41pm, running about four and a half hours. He spoke to officials, students, patients, residents and pedestrians to see how the institutions were actually being run, his deputy press secretary Hasan Shiplu said.

Among the stops were Kuwait Bangladesh Friendship Government Hospital in Uttara, Rajuk Uttara Model College, Mirpur Cantonment Public School and College, the National Heart Foundation in Mirpur, Paikpara Staff Quarters, Government Bangla College, Bangladesh Shishu Hospital and Institute, and Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College and Hospital in Agargaon.

He also visited Dhaka Residential Model College in Mohammadpur, his former school, along with Dhanmondi Government Boys' High School, Kalabagan Staff Quarters, the Azimpur government officers' and employees' residential quarters and the hawker-cleared footpaths at Mirpur-10.

At the Kuwait Bangladesh Friendship Government Hospital the prime minister expressed dissatisfaction with the cleanliness and overall management and gave the authorities seven days to improve. He asked patients about their treatment and inspected departments including the intensive care unit and the operating theatres.

At Bangladesh Shishu Hospital and Institute he found Associate Professor Rafiqul Islam smoking in an unclean room and instructed the hospital chairman to act against him. The doctor was later temporarily suspended.

At the Azimpur residential quarters he voiced strong displeasure over the unhygienic conditions and set a two-week deadline for visible improvement. Residents raised complaints about sanitation and about law and order in the area, and he asked the authorities to address them.

At Mirpur-10 he asked pedestrians whether clearing hawkers had made it easier to walk, and stressed that footpaths must stay free of encroachment.

Speaking to students and members of the Bangladesh National Cadet Corps and Scouts at Government Bangla College, he urged them to help build a clean and healthy Bangladesh and to plant more trees. Keeping homes, schools and neighbourhoods clean was essential to preventing dengue and protecting public health, he said.

State Minister for LGRD and Cooperatives Mir Shahe Alam, Dhaka North City Corporation Administrator Shafiqul Islam Khan Milton and Dhaka South City Corporation Administrator Abdus Salam accompanied the prime minister.

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