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Admin thrown in a spin

Secretariat reels from random transfers, lack of leaderships

M Abul Kalani Azad
Activities of Bangladesh Secretariat have almost come to a standstill due to uncertainty created by random changes of officials and lack of assertiveness and commanding skills of most of the ministers.
Eager to meet ministers, an increasing number of leaders, activists and supporters of the ruling parties throng the Bangladesh Secretariat every day and hamper its activities.
Many ministers and bureaucrats believe that appointment of advisers to supervise five ministries and the ministers' dependency on bureaucrats to run daily affairs are also respon-
sible for the sluggishness of the secretariat.
They say that only routine work is being done in the ministries, with the exception of a few ministries, since the new government took office two months ago. The officers on various issues are avoiding making any decisions.
The field-level administration is also shaky as this government is yet to issue instructions about its policies to the deputy commissioners (DC) of districts. The DCs are in a dilemma in making decisions and in many cases they are following instructions of the ruling party lawmakers or leaders.
Meanwhile, a number of DCs demanded the FROM PAGE 1
government give back the magistracy power which was stripped of them during the caretaker government. Sources said the senior bureaucrats are pushing the field-level officers in this to increase their authority.
'We expected this government to be a different one and handle the administration with professionalism. But what we see now is disappointing," said a senior bureaucrat, who does not support the government's hurried transfers and promotions.
Since assuming power on January 6, the Awami League-led grand alliance government promoted 10 officers to secretaries while placing a couple of officers on special duty (OSD). They also promoted 72 joint , secretaries to posts of additional secretary and 86 deputy secretaries to the rank of joint
secretary. The government also changed seven secretaries and five additional secretaries yesterday.
In addition, a large number of officers got transferred and promoted during this penod of administration shake-up.
In this sort of situation, an officer usually remains idle and waits for his or her new responsibility," another bureaucrat told The Daily Star yesterday at the secretariat.
Many officers were ignored in the reshuffle process which caused commotion in the civil administration, the officer said, adding that the government should have given the officers time to show efficiency and professionalism.
"Actions could have been taken if they failed to perform as per the instructions of the government. The government should have adopted a go-slow policy."
Against this backdrop, the new faces in the Sheikh Hasina-led cabinet are finding it very difficult to perform their responsibilities. "Many of them require more time to understand how the administration functions," admitted a state minister, adding that time is also needed to get the administration up and run properly.
The government on February 22 changed the cabinet secretary and communication secretary, less than a month after their appointment. This had a negative impact on the administration. It proves that the government is not making decisions perfectly, believe some officials.
Meanwhile, the 86 officers, who were promoted to joint secretaries in the third week of February, have started to get their new posts. They had
remained attached to the establishment ministry when the administration desperately needed them to do the routine work at different ministries.
Leaders, activists and supporters of the ruling parties are crowding the ministries. This is also hampering activities of the ministers.
"We are really bogged down by the number of visitors after taking office," said a cabinet minister, who yesterday requested his party people to visit his home instead of the office.
The mutiny at the BDR headquarters and putting former information secretary Abu Karim into forced retirement, in connection with writing controversial poems, also made the administration more sluggish during the last few weeks.
Adviser to the Prime
Minister on Administrative Affairs HT Imam called for a news briefing at his Secretariat office on February 25 to describe the overall situation of the administration but the briefing was cancelled follow ing the BDR mutiny.
A former cabinet secretary, who talked to The Daily Star on condition of anonymity, said the civil administration will continue to perform this way until it is reformed discarding its colonial shape.
"Now bureaucrats have no confidence. They are suffering from an uncertainty. It is because the civil administration still has the colonial structure," he said.
Asked about the inexperience of the ministers, the former top bureaucrat said, "It is not a bad idea to incorporate new faces in the cabinet but the question is whether they are capable or not."