The government has decided to expedite the implementation of the immediately actionable recommendations made by the Public Administration Reform Commission.
This decision was made at a high-level meeting held on Monday at the Chief Adviser’s Office, in the capital, confirmed a press release issued on Friday by the Chief Adviser’s Press Wing.
The meeting was chaired by M Siraz Uddin Miah, principal secretary to the chief adviser.
It was said in the meeting that the interim government—formed through a student-people uprising—had established several commissions, including six major reform commissions, which submitted proposals on various issues aimed at fulfilling the aspirations of the people.
Among these, the National Consensus Commission, under the leadership of Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus, is working to build consensus on constitutional and major reforms.
However, the chief adviser has instructed that all reform proposals which can be implemented independently by the relevant administrative ministries should be carried out without delay.
In line with this directive, the Cabinet Division issued a letter to various ministries and divisions on May 25, 2025.
The meeting was informed that the Cabinet Division has received a total of 121 immediately implementable proposals from five reform commissions.
Of these, nine are from the Electoral System Reform Commission, 38 from the Judiciary Reform Commission, 43 from the Anti-Corruption Reform Commission, 13 from the Police Reform Commission, and 18 from the Public Administration Reform Commission.
The meeting at the Chief Adviser’s Office on Monday focused primarily on the 18 proposals submitted by the Public Administration Reform Commission.
Among these, eight proposals deemed relatively easier to implement were discussed in detail.
Hygienic toilet facilities at highway petrol pumps
The Energy and Mineral Resources Division will hold a meeting with the Petrol Pump and CNG Owners Association to discuss establishing separate hygienic toilets for men and women.
A deadline has been set for the implementation of such facilities at all petrol and CNG stations across the country by July 20, 2025.
The division will issue directives in this regard and request district administrations to supervise the implementation.
Additionally, the Cabinet Division will instruct deputy commissioners accordingly. Regular inspections will be carried out, and updates will be provided to the Cabinet Division and the Chief Adviser’s Office.
Making the ministry's website dynamic
The Information and Communication Technology Division will convene a meeting with all ministries within a week to determine measures for uploading updated content and incorporating citizen feedback options.
The national data governance interoperability system will be completed within the next two months.
Formation of managing committees for colleges and secondary schools
The Secondary and Higher Education Division will send the draft policy to the Ministry of Public Administration within two days.
The Ministry of Public Administration will vet the policy within five working days and return it. The Secondary and Higher Education Division will then issue the final policy within five working days.
The restructuring of managing committees must be completed within one month of policy issuance.
Operation of community health centres
The Health Services Division will organize a meeting with relevant NGOs, including the NGO Affairs Bureau, within a week to strategize community health centre management.
Holding public hearings at regular intervals
The Cabinet Division will meet with all service-providing ministries and divisions within a week to develop a public hearing strategy.
Review of RTI Act and Official Secrets Act
The Cabinet Division will formulate a time-bound action plan to review and amend the Official Secrets Act, 1923.
The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting will prepare a similar plan for reviewing and amending the Right to Information Act, 2009.
Reorganizing the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS)
The BBS will be restructured in line with the commission’s recommendations and ongoing reform efforts, with assistance from the World Bank.
The Statistics and Information Management Division will adopt a time-bound action plan for this purpose.
Digital transformation and e-services
The ICT Division will implement a time-bound action plan to integrate all government services into the citizen platform developed by the interim government.
The national data governance interoperability system must be implemented promptly.
All ministries and divisions will submit their respective time-bound action plans to the Cabinet Division and the Chief Adviser’s Office within one month.
The principal secretary emphasized that each ministry and division will establish its own implementation team and follow time-bound activities.
A dedicated monitoring team under the Governance Innovation Unit (GIU), supervised by the secretary of the Chief Adviser’s Office, will maintain continuous communication with ministries and provide necessary support.
The Cabinet Division will also monitor the progress of reform implementation.
Such meetings will be held regularly to advance the reform process in phases.
The press release further said that in recent months, each government ministry has undertaken numerous reform and development initiatives. In total, 1,061 reform-related and development steps have been taken across 54 ministries.
