Bureaucracy collapsed due to politicization- Dr Akbar Ali Khan

Staff Correspondent

The bureaucracy in the country has collapsed due to its politicisation, eminent economist Dr Akbar Ali Khan said yesterday (Saturday).

“When politics and bureaucracy are mixed and politicians hold the absolute power, bureaucracy cannot work properly,” he said while delivering a public lecture. “Such a politicisation becomes visible during promotions. If you are in the government's good book, then you will get promoted...,” he added.

“Bangladesh is the only country where promotion takes place although there is no vacancy in that post,” said Dr Akbar, a former top bureaucrat.

The Department of Public Administration of Dhaka University organised the lecture on the campus. In the lecture, the former adviser to a caretaker government said politicisation and more than necessary posts in the administration, such as the post of additional secretary, create delay in the administrative work.

Pointing to the provision of the public order that allows the government to sack any official who has served more than 25 years without showing any reason, Akbar said, “In such a situation, it is difficult to make bureaucracy effective.”

About delay in the administrative work, he said a file has to pass eight to nine hands, from the section assistant to the minister, to accomplish a task. As a result, around five additional days get wasted.

“Let's say, all the officials are honest, nobody takes any bribe. But creating five extra posts [in the administration] delays decision making at least for five days,” he said.

The country has more than 600 additional secretaries and every ministry has at least two to three such secretaries. Some even have more than 20, he said. The posts of additional secretary delay the office work in terms of decision-making, he added.

In the lecture, he also stressed the need for reforming the judiciary so that the trial proceedings can be finished swiftly. “The main reason behind the delay in trial proceedings is the British law, which we follow. It is based on lawyers, where one party will win and another will lose. But the lawyers do not want to dispose of the suits,” Dr Akbar said.

• Courtesy: The Daily Star/ Jan 21, 2018