The government has finally taken up initiatives to enact the civil service act – after four years of finalising the draft – and start decentralisation of the administration.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday asked secretaries to examine the inconsistencies in the draft and finalise it for passage in parliament.
The instruction came at a four-hour-long meeting with the secretaries of different ministries at the Secretariat – her first meeting with the secretaries after assuming office.
Twenty-two out of 61 secretaries attended the meeting and took part in the open discussion. They heard and offered to the prime minister suggestions on different issues.
Hasina also asked the secretaries to prepare plans and implement development projects giving priority to the government’s election manifesto.
She had briefed the bureaucrats on the vision, philosophy and policies of the present government and given them necessary guidance and instructions, Cabinet Secretary M Musharraf Hossain Bhuiyan told reporters after the meeting.
He said the prime minister had laid emphasis on enacting the civil service act soon to accelerate the activities of the civil administration. The secretaries concerned would finalise the draft of the act, updating it according to demands.
The draft was prepared in 2010 in consultation with the stakeholders and was sent to the Prime Minister’s Office for approval. But, it was stuck at the PMO.
Musharraf said the administrative system of the country would also be decentralised to eliminate people’s sufferings. It would help the government take services to people’s doorsteps.
The premier instructed the secretaries to work on the civil service act on a priority basis so the government could pass the law shortly.
Regarding the power supply system, Hasina said: “We have produced adequate electricity for the people. But, the people are not getting power because of a shortage of transmission lines. So, the officials concerned should emphasise projects to establish power transmission lines on a priority basis.”
The power secretary complained about not getting payments for electricity bills.
The premier also gave instructions for preventing food adulteration and preparing a database for social safety net to prevent overlapping of the programmes.
The prime minister asked the finance secretary to arrange money for the defaulting ministries and offices.
