'Dev admin was subservient to political system'

Senior government officials have admitted that the development administration played a major role in shaping the development narrative over the past decade during the Awami League regime as well as widened various shortcomings and deviations due to its complete subservience to the political system.
Speaking at a meeting with the white paper committee on Bangladesh's economic state on Sunday, they said a small number of officials had opposed politically-driven financial irregularities and some of them succeeded, while others faced professional setbacks, including being denied promotions.
Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya, a distinguished fellow at the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) and chief of the white paper committee, presented the outcomes of the meeting at a press briefing held at the NEC Auditorium in the capital.
Around 85 high officials of the government, including 32 secretaries, and all members of the white paper committee attended the meeting arranged in a hybrid mode.
"Government officials also admitted their lack of capacity, coordination, and wishes in many cases, stressing that these three areas must be prioritised to move forward," said Debapriya.
They had called for the opportunity to work with greater independence to enhance their capabilities and requested protection from any form of professional injustice, he added.
He also said a tripartite nexus involving opportunistic bureaucrats in the development administration, some businessmen, and some politicians had embezzled money from development projects. The nexus had frequently caused issues across all stages of project selection, formulation, management, evaluation, and implementation, Debapriya noted.
"Bureaucrats were politically influenced in the selection and preparation of projects, resulting in multiple revisions that increased costs and extended deadlines, a situation attributed to negligence and inadequate feasibility studies during project preparations."
Weak feasibility studies had often been conducted deliberately to present projects as sustainable despite their lack of sustainability, the white paper committee head said.
Quoting government officials, Debapriya said the professional association of government employees had also been politicised, with its leadership aligning with opportunistic political power, resulting in a lack of professional protection for both individuals and the association as a whole.
He said professional bureaucracy had been undermined through various actions at the top level, resulting in transfers to different departments and locations that hindered their abilities to function collectively. Senior and former government officials also played a significant role in politicising the bureaucracy, the noted economist added.
"Irregularities were found in land acquisition prior to project approvals, and corruption took place during the procurement of necessary equipment. There were also irregularities in contractor appointments," he also said.
Debapriya said the meeting had discussed several topics, including hi-tech parks, Karnaphuli Tunnel, energy and social sectors, tax collection, and bank management.
Emphasising the need to address the weaknesses within the Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division (IMED), he said accountability would be achieved if the ongoing reform efforts were properly executed.

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