Tk 180 million gaming platform closed down within just two years

The gaming platform "Hasina and Friends," created for children and adolescents at a cost of Tk 183.5 million, disappeared from the internet just two years after its launch.

Sources revealed that over six times the standard budget was spent on the web portal alone. The Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Division had issued separate tenders for developing the web portal and 12 interactive games. The platform was launched on 28 September 2022, to celebrate then-Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's birthday.

On 3 March 2021, a tender was issued under the project "Skill Development for Mobile Games and Applications (2nd Revision)" to develop the 12 games, followed by another tender on 26 July 2021 for the web portal's development under the "Innovation Design and Entrepreneurship Academy (IDEA)" project. Both tenders had nearly identical specifications.

Golden Harvest Infotech Limited won both contracts, with Tk 119 million allocated for the games and Tk 64.5 million for the web portal. After accounting for management costs, the remainder was paid to the company. When asked about the shutdown, Mohammad Anwar Hossain, the project director of the ICT Division, suggested that political changes might have led to Golden Harvest Infotech taking the website offline.

Experts in web design pointed out that the cost of a high-quality web portal typically ranges between Tk 1 million to 5 million, including taxes. Therefore, the expenditure for this portal appeared excessively high. IDEA project consultant Mominul Islam explained that the platform had to be of superior quality because it bore the name of the then-prime minister, which justified the higher cost.

Anwar Hossain, who joined after the project’s completion, claimed he was unaware of the specific budget breakdowns. Meanwhile, industry professionals like Muhammad Asiful Islam questioned the project’s overall budget, estimating that creating an advanced web platform with games should not exceed Tk 12.1 million.

The platform, which was the first interactive gaming site in Bengali and also available in English, aimed to educate children aged 6 to 16 about development issues through games and stories. 

Professor BM Moinul Hossain, director of Dhaka University’s Information Technology Institute, emphasized that such platforms are popular globally and that "Hasina and Friends" could be an effective tool for educating children about important issues. He recommended improving the platform instead of shutting it down, suggesting the need for proper planning and execution to maximize its value.