Advisers approve proposal to set up independent EC secretariat
Sunday, 24 June 2007
FE Report
The council of advisers at its weekly meeting approved Saturday the draft Bangladesh Biman Corporation (Amendment) Ordinance-2007 with a view to converting the Corporation into a public limited company (PLC).
Chaired by the Chief Adviser Fakhruddin Ahmed, the meeting also asked the concerned ministry for re-examining the proposed draft on the Memorandum of Association and Article of Association of the Bangladesh Airlines Limited and place it again before the council.
The council of advisers, however, approved, in principle, the proposal on establishment of an 'Independent Election Commission Secretariat', an official handout said.
After discussion in details, the meeting also advised the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs to submit a draft ordinance for establishing an Independent Election Commission Secretariat before the advisers' council.
The government had decided earlier to convert the loss-making Bangladesh Biman Corporation into a public limited company with a view to preventing mismanagement and rationalising its manpower.
Under the initiative, the Biman authority has already decided to cut 1,593 jobs at various levels to reduce its manpower from around 5,000 to 3,400 under a voluntary retirement scheme (VRS).
It has also sought Tk 2.9 billion from the government to implement the VRS, sources said.
At least 2,100 employees of Biman Bangladesh Airlines have already applied for the voluntary retirement.
According to the plan, the government would shoulder the liabilities of Biman in order to turn it into a public limited company with zero liabilities after June 30, said the sources.
Initially, the Biman will be a fully government-owned company and its board of directors will have seven to 10 members.
Then the government would gradually offload up to 49% of the shares to the private sector, sources said.
According official figures, the Biman owes around Tk 20 billion to different agencies, including Tk 15 billion to the Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation on account of purchasing fuel and Tk 3.0 billion to the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh.
It incurred a loss of around Tk 12 billion in fiscal year 2006-07 alone, sources mentioned.
The council of advisers at its weekly meeting approved Saturday the draft Bangladesh Biman Corporation (Amendment) Ordinance-2007 with a view to converting the Corporation into a public limited company (PLC).
Chaired by the Chief Adviser Fakhruddin Ahmed, the meeting also asked the concerned ministry for re-examining the proposed draft on the Memorandum of Association and Article of Association of the Bangladesh Airlines Limited and place it again before the council.
The council of advisers, however, approved, in principle, the proposal on establishment of an 'Independent Election Commission Secretariat', an official handout said.
After discussion in details, the meeting also advised the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs to submit a draft ordinance for establishing an Independent Election Commission Secretariat before the advisers' council.
The government had decided earlier to convert the loss-making Bangladesh Biman Corporation into a public limited company with a view to preventing mismanagement and rationalising its manpower.
Under the initiative, the Biman authority has already decided to cut 1,593 jobs at various levels to reduce its manpower from around 5,000 to 3,400 under a voluntary retirement scheme (VRS).
It has also sought Tk 2.9 billion from the government to implement the VRS, sources said.
At least 2,100 employees of Biman Bangladesh Airlines have already applied for the voluntary retirement.
According to the plan, the government would shoulder the liabilities of Biman in order to turn it into a public limited company with zero liabilities after June 30, said the sources.
Initially, the Biman will be a fully government-owned company and its board of directors will have seven to 10 members.
Then the government would gradually offload up to 49% of the shares to the private sector, sources said.
According official figures, the Biman owes around Tk 20 billion to different agencies, including Tk 15 billion to the Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation on account of purchasing fuel and Tk 3.0 billion to the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh.
It incurred a loss of around Tk 12 billion in fiscal year 2006-07 alone, sources mentioned.