Governments come and go with the change of power. But the seats of government secretaries-bureaucrats and employees are permanent. He was the most powerful person in the country till his retirement. The common saying that ‘Ministry is run by secretaries, not ministers’ is practically hundred percent true. A government is elected by popular vote and comes to power. Parliament, Ministers, MPs all act as representatives of the people. However, the drivers of these public representatives are the secretaries-bureaucrats. MPs speak for the people in the National Parliament. There, decisions are made about various projects starting from legislation, budget. And to implement these issues, the first people who are needed are bureaucrats-secretaries. Ministers, MPs are only the final signatories of the project.
To put it more simply, it has to be said, ‘People’s representatives do not have the opportunity to do any project or government activity alone. Because the public representatives are bureaucratic due to the institutional and administrative regulations of the government. For example, if a minister signs the file as per his wish, it does not work. Instead, the government secretaries-bureaucrats, officials and employees explain how reasonable his thoughts are through their activities. Because of this administrative system the prudence of a secretary is much more important to make the purpose of the government effective.
The politics of Bangladesh is in full swing with the election of 2024. There is a lot of confusion among the bureaucrats around this election. The reason for that is that a special part of the long-term Awami government is the government bureaucrats from secretaries to officials. And the people of the country have got proof of the mountain of corruption that they have built on the shoulders of this government. In simple words, it is convenient for government bureaucrats, secretaries, policemen that Awami government comes to power again. By doing this they can run the government as they like. In the past, it has been seen that government officials and employees are more important than party leaders and workers to the bureaucratic secretary-dependent Awami government. Because voting can now be done by government forces with their powers. Even if the leaders and activists do not go for the vote. This was proved in the last election.
Although the Awami government has been in power for a long time, the only place of dependence for the people is the honorable Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. People have various kinds of anger and regret about the elected ministers and MPs of the area. Again, the party’s renegade leaders and activists play a silent role as they do not get proper evaluation. And on that occasion, people of opportunistic character are flocking to the party. They are taking advantage from the government by putting the seal of Awami League through the hands of bureaucrats, ministers and MPs. In this situation, the government has become overly dependent on bureaucrats to maintain its position. People can’t even understand now that the corruption of the bureaucrats is increasing in unlimited form while keeping the party and party workers free from corruption. Because government officials prove themselves as Awami supporters every moment.
As a result, the government and the people have become hostage to the corruption of government officials and employees in every sector of the country. However, the government has repeatedly spoken of zero tolerance against corruption. It is regrettable that people had to admit to being sued if they talked about corruption during this government. Because the government is dependent on bureaucrats. Bureaucratic irregularities and corruption are major weaknesses for the government.
Incidents like the village proverb ‘selling chickens to foxes’ have happened in the government of honorable Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Prime Minister and Awami League party leaders have spent thousands of crores of rupees in the name of traveling abroad for khichuri training in various projects of Digital Bangladesh or Sonar Bangla. But the government did not heed the adverse reaction. The reason for that is that in the last election, the secretaries of the government bureaucrats kept the Awami government in power without caring about the people’s votes. Which is believed to be likely to happen in the 2024 elections. If the Awami League realized that bureaucratic secretaries need a long-lasting government for their personal interests, there would be a lot of opportunities to go to the people.
Since the 28th October Samhita incident, there have been various incidents of arresting BNP leaders and activists which are unacceptable in many cases. The list of harassing the common people while making the list of BNP and arresting them is also drawing a picture in the minds of the people. Corrupt forces and individuals are doing financial transactions in various areas using the reason for this arrest. The bureaucratic management of Sheikh Hasina’s government should have been reined in long ago, but they did not do it. But in the future, if you come to power, you will have to do this first. Otherwise, people will lose confidence in this government in the long run.
Just as the government is elected by the people and works in the service of the country and the people, similarly the government bureaucrats, officers and employees are the servants of the people. They enjoy all the benefits including salaries and allowances from people’s tax money. So the government should think about getting the fair rights of the people before relying on the bureaucrats. In order to manage the country properly by evaluating the opinion of the people, first of all, the corruption of the bureaucrats must be prevented. If not, the words of the bureaucrats will prove to be true, ‘Bureaucrats run the country and bring the government to power. People, party leaders and workers are not needed for voting. If government management is explained in another way, it requires the involvement and coordination of both public officials and public representatives. It is not possible for the government to work for the country and the people only through the people’s representatives in the constitutional and administrative framework. The problem is that there is a lack of transparency even among the people’s representatives in Bangladesh. They are also not free from corruption. For this reason, both bureaucrats and public representatives must be free from corruption in the course of the country’s development. Government has to work through a chain. If he falls into the rust of irregularities and corruption in the chain, then the government will have to repair it. Because at the end of the day all the responsibilities have to be taken by the elected government of the people. There the bureaucrats hide because they are not representative of the people. Therefore, Awami League should abandon the idea of coming to power as a government through bureaucratic voting, and walk on the path of forming a government with the people’s mandate. Because it is better for the country and the people to form a people-oriented government by creating an environment for people to exercise their right to vote.
Author: Columnist
BD daily/himel
