The High Court’s order for the disposal of all pending applications for new passports and passport renewals filed by Bangladeshi expatriates within 60 days is certainly a welcome intervention but also exposes a much larger, persistent problem.
Whether it is passports, land records, utility services, welfare benefits, or any other basic documentation, our public service delivery, despite lofty exclamations of digitization and reform, remains slow, fragmented, and deeply frustrating for ordinary citizens.
The expat passport backlog is only one symptom of a system that struggles to keep pace with the country’s growing population, rising mobility, and expanding digital expectations. When expatriates, who contribute billions in remittances, face delays of weeks or months for something as fundamental as a passport, we must call it what it is: A structural failure.
The same inefficiencies affect millions at home: Long queues, opaque procedures, inconsistent timelines, and a lack of accountability.
The High Court’s directive is therefore less a procedural order and more a reminder that public service delivery must be fast, predictable, and citizen‑centred.
We are a nation that aspires to reach middle‑income efficiency but that is impossible with our present outdated administrative practices.
The solution requires systemic reform, and it begins with those in charge actually caring about doing their jobs properly. Better coordination rather than operating in silos and digital systems that are fully integrated, not partially adopted, should be the minimum expectation. Citizens deserve to receive timely responses instead of bureaucratic runarounds.
Public services are not favours but rights. A modern Bangladesh demands modern service delivery, one that is transparent, efficient, and accountable, serving the best interest of the people.
