One doctor is clearly not enough in a dispensary where the number of patients coming in every day is around 40. And if that same doctor has to attend five other dispensaries in other districts, there is no question that the task is impossible.

The sight of children begging and sleeping on the streets in the capital has, unfortunately, become so common that it has ceased to arouse our collective conscience anymore.

Out of 28 countries in the Asia-Pacific region, Bangladesh has the second highest educated unemployment rate. The report titled “Asia-Pacific Employment and Social Outlook 2018” also revealed youth unemployment in Bangladesh to have doubled between 2010 and 2017, in a short span of only seven years.

We are used to hearing from time to time comments varying from the sublime to the ludicrous from members of successive election commissions.

The falling rate of enrolment in government primary schools across the country should be a cause for worry, given the stress on education at this level, although the number of schools has increased during this time, according to a Directorate of Primary Education (DPE) study.

That the police is gathering background information about potential polling officials, who would oversee the forthcoming election, and their families, is surprising.

It is unfortunate that some of the worst incidents of communal violence that erupted in Ramu of Cox's Bazar in 2012 are yet to be brought to the notice of the High Court (HC) for hearing.

At a time when the government is continuously propagating its achievements in terms of the development works they have done, it is frustrating to learn that there are still villages in the country where there are no primary schools.

It is very demoralising for all citizens to see the apparent foot-dragging on implementing the Road Transport Act 2018 (RTA 2018),

The sudden clash between BNP activists and the police on Wednesday in front of the BNP office was both surprising and distressing.

In the past several months, it seemed increasingly likely that Bangladesh would face an odd situation over the impending repatriation of the Rohingya refugees—returning them to an incorrigibly hostile Myanmar or letting them stay on at the expense of an already overburdened host country.

Some 150 female politicians belonging to Awami League, BNP and Jatiya Party voiced a demand for political parties to nominate at least 30 percent seats for women at a conference on “Advancing women's leadership in the national elections” on November 13.

After a delay of six years from original project completion date, the Dhaka-Chattogram expanded highway was inaugurated in June, 2017 at a final cost of Tk 3,439 crore which was a markup of 58 percent (due to repeated revisions in design).

We are appalled by the news of around 300 Bangladeshi migrant workers living in dire conditions in a Qatar labour camp as they have not been paid by their employer for the last six months.

We are quite puzzled by the Election Commission's decision to defer the general election by a week.

The truth of the statement that justice delayed is justice denied cannot be overstated. Quick disposal of cases is undoubtedly crucial for effective dispensation of justice, and no accused should have to be in custody a minute longer than justice states.

What we have witnessed in a recent incident where a woman was blindfolded, beaten and murdered in a moving bus after her father was thrown off it is a manifestation of humanity at its worst.

We are taken aback by the public works secretary's recent remark that the Detailed Area Plan (DAP) for Dhaka has been altered because no one wanted to comply with its original version.

The EC has formally asked all the political parties and candidate hopefuls to remove their posters, banners and other campaign materials within the next seven days since it is against the law to campaign and bring out processions and stage showdowns until candidates have been allotted electoral symbols. We hope the EC will be able to ensure that its orders are implemented.

Is there no alternative to constructing a road through a government-declared wildlife sanctuary? The very idea of the R&H Department building a road through one of the largest secondary forests in the country—a sanctuary for a variety of flora and fauna—is extremely illogical and incongruous considering the relevant government policy.