The government is considering changing the name of the Ministry of Communication with a view to making the ministry more compatible with its area of work, sources said.
Some proposals on the new identity of the ministry under the titles 'transportation', 'road and transportation', 'road and communication' etc are now under consideration.
Officials said the decision to change the name of the ministry had been made as 'communication' is no longer used as the name of a ministry working on roads and transport almost all over the world.
The meaning of the word 'communication' has also changed, as these days it is confused with the sectors of telecommunication and information communication technology, they added.
The communication ministry held a meeting in this regard at its conference room Monday with Road Division Secretary MAN Siddique in the chair.
Officials said the meeting had ended with the decision to study the other names of the relevant ministry now being used in different countries and propose two to three suitable names among them.
An official, who attended the meeting, said the final selection of the name of the ministry would come from the Prime Minister's Office as the ministry would soon send a summary paper proposing the names to the PMO.
"We have started brainstorming to choose a suitable name for the ministry," said the Road Division Secretary over phone after the meeting.
He said the bid to change the ministry's name has long been under consideration.
At present, the Ministry of Communication executes the work of constructing roads and bridges across the country through its related departments and agencies. Besides, it has a regulatory authority, a transport coordination authority and a corporation to run bus and truck transport service in public sector.
Its jurisdiction of work has expanded recently to introduce mass transport system in the country for which two companies on 'mass rapid transit' and 'bus rapid transit' have already been set up.
The ministry always uses the word 'communication' to present itself, but its divisions have been expanded or cut from time to time. The ministry once had a road division, a rail division and a bridge division, but after the establishment of a separate ministry for railway, it has now the road division and the bridge division.
When asked whether the jurisdiction of the ministry would be expanded after the change in the name, officials said it was still centred on the subject of removing confusion over the word 'communication'.
In different countries, the term transportation covers all kinds of road, rail, river, air transport services under one ministry.
