Information and Broadcasting Minister Dr Hasan Mahmud on Monday said approvals will be given to some Internet Protocol Televisions (IPTV) within this month.

“We did not give any permission to any IPTV yet. We have asked the authorities concerned to apply for registration and some 600 applications have been submitted. We will give approval of some IPTV within this month after scrutiny,” he said.

The Minister came up with the information while talking to reporters at the Secretariat.

“It is known to all that according to the broadcast policy an IPTV can’t present any news and allegations have been brought against some IPTV,” said Hasan.

Replying to a question, the Awami League joint general secretary also said “The government has announced the mass inoculation drive following the roadmap, but BNP is trying to mislead people as they did in the past.”

Referring to the Gonoshasthya Kendra founder Dr Zafrullah Chowdhury's remark about the government's wrong policy, Hasan said “Knowing everything about the global situation, Dr Zafrullah is also misleading people. His statement is nothing but misleading.”

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Dr Zafrullah on Sunday said the country’s health system has collapsed due to the ‘wrong’ policy of the government as it is suffering from 'dependency syndrome'.

“The Covid death rate has increased in the country because of the government’s wrong policy. The government has been walking on a wrong path for which the health system has completely collapsed,” he said while speaking at a press conference at Gonoshasthaya Kendra.

“The government has taken all steps to stem the Covid-19 from the beginning and we were able to tackle the first wave of Covid-19 successfully under the leadership of the prime minister,” Hasan said.  

He said that the government has already declared that 10 crore doses will come within this year and one crore people will be vaccinated in one month.

To a query about the reopening of export-oriented factories amid strict lockdown and sufferings of workers, the minister said the demand to reopen the export-oriented factories came from the businessmen. The decision to reopen factories was not made by any secretary or person, it was the decision of the government.

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But the garment owners said they will start work with the workers living in Dhaka and adjacent areas, he said adding but the owners deviated from it and made phone calls to the workers outside Dhaka to join their work and it created a confusion.