Dhaka: Information Minister Hasanul Haq Inu on Monday expressed his sincere sorrow for his yesterday’s statement on Test Relief (TR) and Food for Work programme, which hurt the sentiment of the Members of Parliament, and withdrew the same, reports BSS.

In reply to a point of order in the Jatiya Sangsad on yesterday’s remarks reportedly made by the Information Minister about the lawmakers, Inu said his statement was undesired and uncalled for. ‘Hence, I seek apology for the remarks and also I withdrew it,’ he said.

Hasanul Haq Inu said, in his statement at the inaugural ceremony of the ‘Fourth Bangladesh Summit on Sustainable Development-2016 at Palli Karma-Sahayak Foundation (PKSF) yesterday, he highlighted tremendous successes of the present government led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in different sectors.

Referring to the statement, which annoyed the lawmakers, Inu said he was speaking about the government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s sincere efforts for removing corruption and irregularities committed by the past governments in the TR and Food for Work programmes.

In his statement, Inu accused lawmakers of misappropriating allocations for Test Relief and Food for Work.

In his clarification in the House, the Information Minister said he is also a Member of Parliament and shows respect to all lawmakers in the House.

Treasury bench member Abul Hasnat Abdullah, Jatiya Party member Kazi Feroz Rashid and independent lawmaker Rustom Ali Farazi raised the issue taking the floor on a point of order.