Post and Telecommunications Minister Mohammad Nasim yesterday said the present government has given priority to the country's human resource development to attain sustainablb development, reports BSS.

The minister was speaking at the fifth national conference of Bangladesh Population Association, held at the auditorium of the Academy for Planning and Development in the city yesterday.

Nasim, who is also the Minister for Housing and Public Works, said the government is planning to set up "satellite towns" around Dhaka city to reduce pressure of population and infrastructural load. "We will encourage private investment in this regard," he added.

Referring to the problems of urbanisation in Dhaka city, he said, the government has decided to talse action against the owners of illegal shops and houses and that the "hawkers would be evicted from the streets of the city.”

State Minister for Health and Family Welfare Prof M Amanullah, Vice-Chancellor of Dhaka University Prof A K Azad Chowdhury and general secretary of the association Abu Yousuf Chowdhury also spoke on the occasion.