The 77 union information and service centres (UISCs) in eight upazilas of the district earned more than Tk 76 lakh in the last fiscal year (2011-12) by providing services to more than 1.50 lakh people. Of them, 11 UISCs in Madhabpur upazila earned highest Tk 9.5 lakh during the period while the income in five UISCs under Azmiriganj upazila was lowest 2.25 lakh. The UP information and service centres were opened in the district on November 11, 2010 like elsewhere across the country. The information centres provide examination results, university admission assistances, agricultural information, composition on PC, digital photography, e-mail, passport delivery, visa scrutiny and birth registration facilities to the locals. H Asif Bin Ikram, upazila nirbahi officer of Azmiriganj, said as the unions in the low-lying areas are cut off from the mainland it was not possible to make the information centres much active. Besides, the UP secretaries were often issued show-cause notices for their activities, he said. Locals alleged that the entrepreneurs and UP secretaries were at loggerheads over running the information centres as some laptops of the information centres allegedly used for personal purposes. (Source: The Daily Star)