CAB Youth Council places 13-point charter to reform energy sector

The CAB Youth Council on Tuesday unveiled a 13-point charter of demands aimed at ensuring good governance and transparency within the country’s power and energy sector.

Key proposals include transitioning electricity and primary energy from commercial commodities back to essential public services, ensuring a cost-based pricing model rather than profit-driven motives.

The council also called for a 5.0 per cent annual reduction in fossil fuel imports and a 15 per cent increase in solar power generation over the next five years.

These demands were presented during a roundtable titled “Energy Sector Reforms and CAB’s 13-Point Demands” at the CIRDAP Auditorium in Dhaka. Organized by the Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB), the event brought together energy experts, politicians, and civil society members to address prevailing challenges in the sector.

Other major demands include the immediate cancellation of the “Quick Enhancement of Electricity and Energy Supply (Special Provisions) Act 2010” and all contracts signed under its indemnity.

The youth wing of CAB further urged the government to halt coal-based power expansion, recover financial losses from those involved in sector-wide corruption, and refrain from signing the International Energy Charter Treaty 1991 to protect national interests.

General Secretary of the Revolutionary Workers Party Saiful Huq, CPB general secretary Ruhin Hossain Prince, noted economist Anu Muhammad, BAPA joint secretary Aminur Rasul, deputy attorney general Advocate Arif Khan, labour rights activist Taslima Akhter, and CAB organising secretary Professor Syed Mizanur Rahman, among others, were present at the event.