Finance and Planning Minister M Saifur Rahman yesterday disclosed the plan, while blasting the elite of the society such as businessmen and rich people for not discharging their social responsibility that people expect from them.

"The businessmen come to me only for tax rebate for industries like fridge and television manufacturing, which are not industry at all. They don't make employment," he said.

The finance minister said hospital could be a good industry in the country. "If 50-60 good hospitals can be developed, it will make employment and people will get benefit from medicare."

In the budget for 2004-05, he has proposed zero customs duty on medical and hospital equipment and accessories as well as waived all types of taxes and duties on certain life-support systems used in referral hospitals.

Addressing an award-giving ceremony of Dutch Bangla Bank Limited (DBBL) Foundation for meritorious students, the minister emphasised on removing `education poverty' from the country for alleviating all other sorts of poverty.

He said the government is encouraged with the successful implementation of stipend scheme for the female students of schools and colleges that increased both attendance and enrolment, bringing international acclaim.

Saifur announced that the stipend programme would be extended up to the university level from next year.

Apart from the education poverty, Saifur Rahman noted, the weakest point in the target of achieving Millennium Development Goals (MDG) is high rate of maternal mortality and malnutrition.

He, however, said pragmatic steps had been taken to face the problems related to maternal mortality and malnutrition and hoped that the problems would be overcome within 5-10 years.

The minister stressed the need for a sustainable economic management and education programme to achieve the MDG.

The DBBL Foundation awarded 100 students, some of them poor and disabled, for their outstanding performance in the SSC and HSC examinations. Fifty-seven of them received the awards from the minister.

According to Dutch-Bangla Bank Limited press release, a student who gets scholarship at HSC level will continue to get scholarship till completes his master's degree provided his year to year academic performances are satisfactory.

In this way, after five years the total number of schlarships will stand at 1250 for which the bank will need to spend about Tk 3.74 crore per year, the press release added.

Bank's Md Yeasin Ali also informed that the DBBL would provide financial assistance for 400 rural divorced women and 100 acid victims next year. "Profit is not our only mission, our banking is also to support society to grow."