Civil administration in jitters
Monday, 8 November 2010
The officers on special duty (OSDs) typically are without any positing and remain like impotent officers to draw salaries without doing any useful work. The OSD hatchet has come down hard on many senior officers during the last one and a half years or more. They were made OSDs allegedly for posting other officers considered as loyal to the ruling party in their places.
This type of deliberately maiming officers in the zenith of their career was also witnessed in no small measure during the past 'elected' governments. This is described as 'politicization' of the public administration. Thus, successive governments were found to be guilty of this very objectionable practice.
Even the lower levels of the administration are not in any comforts. They are increasingly feeling intimidated into doing the bidding of those who are known, in one way or other, rightly or wrongly, as members of the student and youth fronts of the ruling party. Some cadres of such organisations allegedly raided in the not-too-distance past the offices of the District Commissioner (DC) at Pabna and were also alleged to have caused a great deal of troubles including assaulting official, ransacking offices, and smashing vehicles.
The same kind of incidents followed at Jessore and Panchagarg in the offices of the district civil surgeon.
The entire civil administration now appears to be in jitters in varying degrees from such attempts to subjugate it and pervade it with the so-called party loyalists. Therefore, very convincing steps will have to be taken from the highest level to allay growing fears in the administration and restore confidence. The Awami League (AL)-led "grand alliance" was elected to power by the people because of its firm electoral pledge to "depoliticize" the administration. It should redeem this pledge as early as possible.
Enamul Haque
Pallabi, Dhaka
This type of deliberately maiming officers in the zenith of their career was also witnessed in no small measure during the past 'elected' governments. This is described as 'politicization' of the public administration. Thus, successive governments were found to be guilty of this very objectionable practice.
Even the lower levels of the administration are not in any comforts. They are increasingly feeling intimidated into doing the bidding of those who are known, in one way or other, rightly or wrongly, as members of the student and youth fronts of the ruling party. Some cadres of such organisations allegedly raided in the not-too-distance past the offices of the District Commissioner (DC) at Pabna and were also alleged to have caused a great deal of troubles including assaulting official, ransacking offices, and smashing vehicles.
The same kind of incidents followed at Jessore and Panchagarg in the offices of the district civil surgeon.
The entire civil administration now appears to be in jitters in varying degrees from such attempts to subjugate it and pervade it with the so-called party loyalists. Therefore, very convincing steps will have to be taken from the highest level to allay growing fears in the administration and restore confidence. The Awami League (AL)-led "grand alliance" was elected to power by the people because of its firm electoral pledge to "depoliticize" the administration. It should redeem this pledge as early as possible.
Enamul Haque
Pallabi, Dhaka