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OPINION

Friends, not masters
Once again, the nation lends Its ears to. and has its patience tested by. the nowfamiliar ramblings of another newly-elected government.
The desire to have corruption-free society, where the maximum benefit of the entire national development reaches the maximum number of people, is something that has been declared by each successive government to a people that are burdened by all the trappings that come with the nation being one of the poorest in the world.
One of the main urgent Issues facing the Government (s the need to streamline the administration that is called to deliver all the promises to the maximum number of people
How can an administration (essentially designed and evolved from the colonial days) be expected to be people -friendly ? Nowhere in the world, except perhaps a couple of countries (where the ordinary citizens are still paying the price) tn our subcontinent. is there such an administration with such outdated orientation to serve the people. It is even more preposterous to expect such an administration to redeem itself and It s nature I
Decentralising the administration and bringing It close to the rural people Is the logical step to take, provided only that the government servants at that level are made accountable and answerable to the local representative of the people The whole purpose of decentralising has been defeated (sabotaged?) and made counterproductive in the past because the Local Government servants are appointed from Eden Hadding and are only answerable to tf^tr overlords tn Dhaka I This situation must be reversed Immediately and the powers should remain vested with the local representative and all appointments. transfers and dismissals should be made by him. This would give instant relief and restore the confidence of the people tn the Local Government officials
It will be disastrous for the government to seek recommendations from the bureaucracy to re-orient themselves As seen in the past, bureaucrats have a way of dealing with such situations. The whole Issue will get snarled up tn formation of reform sub committees and writing of expensive and unproductive volumes of reports for the benefit of an insignificant few It will be a long drawn out exercise by the end of which, a genera) disillusionment will set in throughout the country.
Instead what la probably needed is a national forum to discuss and recommend ways and means of constituting an accountable and answerable service-oriented bureaucracy Such a forum should be constituted by drawing eminent citterns from all relevant fields, like public administration. social sciences, commerce and industry etc. ineludtng members of the defence forces and the existing bureaucracy
Whatever happens, we must not lose sight of the need to have an administration that will remain accountable and answerable to the elected representatives of the people Let us not forget that In the ultimate analysis, it is the government bureaucracy that delivers or impedes the deliverance of the promises made by the national leaders U> the electorate- One earnestly hopes that finally the Impoverished people of this land will ^t an administration the members of which shall remain friends not masters of those they serve
IVrvez Rasheed
Dhanmandi Dhaka^