Public admin reforms: Govt moves to implement 8 proposals fast

The government has identified eight recommendations of the Public Administration Reform Commission as suitable for immediate implementation and has directed the relevant authorities to promptly act in this regard.

The decision was disclosed by the chief adviser's press wing yesterday, following a high-level meeting held on June 16 at the Chief Adviser's Office.

The meeting, which was chaired by Principal Secretary M Siraj Uddin Miah, discussed 18 recommendations made by the commission and decided to implement eight of them straight away.

The eight suggestions include the formation of managing committees at colleges and secondary schools; ensuring sanitary toilets at highway filling stations; making ministry websites dynamic; operating community health centres under private management; holding public hearings at regular intervals in government offices; reviewing and amending the Right to Information Act; restructuring the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS); digitising and strengthening e-government and e-services.

The Secondary and Higher Education Division will send guidelines to the public administration ministryregarding forming managing committees of schools and colleges with government officials in two days. The ministry will vetit in five working days and return it. The education ministry will issue the final guidelines in another five working days. All managing committees must be reconstituted in a month after the guidelines are issued.

The Health Services Division will meet within one week with the NGO Affairs Bureau and relevant NGOs to decide on strategies for the operation of community health centres.

The Energy and Mineral Resources Division will hold talks with associations representing filling stations and CNG filling station owners regarding the installation of separate sanitary toilets for men and women. A nationwide deadline of July 20 will be set for all filling stations to complete the installation of these facilities.

The ICT Division will meet all ministries within one week to develop a strategy for updating websites and including a feature for public feedback.

The Cabinet Division will sit with all service-oriented ministries and departments within a week to finalise guidelines for regular public hearings in all government offices.

The information and broadcasting ministry will adopt a time-bound action plan for reviewing and amending the Right to Information Act-2009 and the Official Secrets Act-1923.

The Statistics and Informatics Division will coordinate with the ongoing World Bank-supported reform initiatives to convert the BBS into the "Bangladesh Statistics Commission".

The ICT Division will adopt and implement a time-bound plan to integrate all public services into the citizen platform developed by the government.

All ministries and divisions must inform the Cabinet Division and the Chief Adviser's Office of their implementation plans within a month.

According to the CA's press wing, 121 proposals made by five commissions have been identified for immediate implementation. These include nine from the Election Reform Commission, 38 from the Judicial Reform Commission, 43 from the Anti-Corruption Commission Reform Commission, 13 from the Police Reform Commission, and 18 from the Public Administration Reform Commission.