Government officials who belong to administration see transfer and reshuffle as a regular practice. But such change or reshuffle should be for the sake of welfare of the people and impartial as far as it can be. Bangladesh has witnessed the five phase of local government (upzilla) elections. It is heard that the government is planning a massive reshuffle in the field administration soon as most of the deputy commissioners and upazila nirbahi officers are remaining in the same position for more than three years. We welcome this decision of the government. When a DC or TNO remains three years in the same station, it means that they have already developed a close relation with the local leaders which will deter them from playing impartial roles. In this sense, it would undoubtedly be a wise and timely decision.With this end in view, the cabinet division has reportely called 245 deputy secretaries for interviews to find out ‘eligible officers’ from among them for the positions of deputy commissioners, who also hold the rank of district magistrates. In the field administration the position of Deputy Commissioner is very important and crucial. It is also counted in terms of their future promotions. As we don’t have elected district councils or any elected representatives at the district level, the deputy commissioners ares to play a vital role to look after development activities and maintain liaison between the government and the people. The cabinet secretary, Mohammad Musharraf Hossain Bhuiyan, will preside over the interview board responsible for preparing the ‘DC fit list’.
As the Deputy Commissioners are to play a crucial role in keeping law and order and monitoring the government’s development activities in various sectors at the field level, they must be not only competent but also very much patriotic, impartial and honest. ‘The interview for DC fit list is going to start… This is a routine process to change the field administration and it will take place after the completion of the ongoing upazila polls,’ senior secretary to the public administration ministry Kamal Abdul Naser Chowdhury told the newsmen. A list of about 100 eligible officers will be prepared this time to replace deputy commissioners in most of the 64 districts, another official said adding that the upazila nirbahi officers in many of the 487 upazilas would also be replaced.
The upazila polls were marked by ballot stuffing and booth capturing by ruling party men in many areas and violent clashes. Newspaper reports say that a number of officials alleged that the government usually picks up people loyal to the ruling party for appointment as deputy commissioners contributing to the polarisation in the civil bureaucracy. If it is really done, neutrality of our administration will be questioned, something which we don’t want to see.
The parliamentary elections were held on January 5 this year amid boycott by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and other major political parties, under the Awami League-led administration without any major changes in the field administration, responsible for conducting the elections. And these elections were marked by low voter turnout and more than a half of the seats were elected unopposed.
The administration is run at the expense of the national exchequer holding the taxpayers’ money. Those in the administration most of the time seem to forget the fact that they are the servants of the republic. They try to maintain a distance from the people for whose welfare they are employed. The officials often want to play the roles of their bosses. Those who supervise the administration must look into the matter very seriously.
People elect their representatives so that they can guide the administration towards the welfare line as the common people cannot directly control the administration. So, rewarding the people of the administration must not be on political grounds. When done politically, distribution of favour may bring some temporary or quick benefit to the government but in the long run the people become the worst sufferers. When such change is motivated to give some special benefits to the people belonging to the party in the power, the general people are neglected and deprived.
Actually, reshuffle in the administration must be people’s welfare-orientated. However the people of this country don’t have this good luck. My very recent experience in the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport reminds me of the same story. The very inefficient immigration police people (with possible exceptions) are posted there to increase the harassment of the people of this independent country. They keep people standing hour after hour and ask unnecessary questions to make them infuriated. I had to stand long two hours to complete the immigration formalities. Like me many people including women and children also had to wait hour after hour just for nothing. I don’t understand how these people have been posted there. On what criteria or grounds have they been posted in that very important place? They show their extreme inefficiency. They sometimes ask so many irrelevant and purposive questions which don’t have any meaning. However, the interventions of some police officials made us take our flight at the eleventh hour. We work for BRAC which works in twelve counties. It is our pride. But they continue asking questions where are we going, what we will do there, where we will live and similar other questions even though we had all the relevant documents. They give impression that they don’t know BRAC at all. And it is not new phenomenon that BRAC people are going abroad for the first time. I also witnessed how the expatriate workers who bring dollars to the country were treated in the airport. Who will look after these irregularities?
We know, we don’t have anybody to see our plight. The people who undergo such kind of nightmare experience just digest or suffer silently as there is none to lodge their complaint. I am sure the people in the government never face the hurdles and problems we the common people face. As the citizens of the country we want to request the government to bring about qualitative and attitudinal change in the field administration of the country including all the important positions and stations so that the people can feel the real benefits of freedom. If the people have to suffer in the same way as we used to feel or see during colonial rules, what’s the meaning of freedom to the common people?
(Masum Billah is manager, BRAC Education Programme and vice-president: Bangladesh English Language Teachers Association ( BELTA). He has written this piece from Freetown, Sierra Leone. Email: masumbillah65@gmail.com)
