Dhaka: The Cabinet on Monday gave approval to the draft of the 'Youth Welfare Fund Bill, 2015' subject to vetting of the Law Ministry, aimed at making the existing ordinance of 1985 more time befitting.

The approval was given at the regular weekly meeting of the Cabinet held at Bangladesh Secretariat, with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair.

After the meeting, Cabinet Secretary M Musharraf Hossain Bhuiyan said the existing ordinance, promulgated in 1985 during the martial law period, was later cancelled following the annulment of the fifth and the seventh amendments of the Constitution by the higher court.

The law was placed before the Cabinet on Monday with necessary updates and drafting it in Bangla as per earlier directives of the Cabinet, he said.

The Cabinet Secretary said that under the existing ordinance, the Youth Welfare Fund was created with Tk 15 crore seed money and since its inception, about TK 12 crore was donated to around some 10,000 voluntary youth organizations.

The money is being used for the implementation of various youth development activities including the development of education, science, arts and culture, and sports.

In the day's meeting, a total of 35 Annual Performance Agreements (APAs), as part of the ongoing Government Performance Management System (GPMS), were signed between the Cabinet Secretary and the Senior Secretaries and Secretaries of the 35 concerned Ministries and Divisions in a bid to improve the performance and accountability of the government servants.

The APAs were signed at the beginning of the Cabinet meeting in presence of the Prime Minister and other cabinet members.

After the signing of the APAs, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina expressed the hope that the Secretaries and officials of the concerned Ministries and Divisions would be more careful and sincere in achieving their respective performance targets.

The Cabinet Secretary said these APAs would bring about qualitative change in the overall management of the government and would enhance efficiency, accountability and performance of the concerned Ministries and Divisions.

The Cabinet Secretary signed the APAs as the representative of the Prime Minister and the President of the national committee on GPMS while the Secretaries as the representatives of the concerned Ministries and Divisions.