Dr Akbar Ali Khan, a former civil servant and economist, argues that Bangladesh’s bureaucracy is plagued by stagnation due to “isomorphic mimicry”: institutions that appear to be modern on paper but are dysfunctional. In his book titled Gresham's Law Syndrome and Beyond, he highlights that eroding integrity, politicisation and weak accountability hinder professional efficiency, causing “bad” administrative practices to drive out “good” ones. He also identifies the root of administrative problems lying in the failure to adapt colonial-era mechanisms to the needs of a sovereign independent state like Bangladesh. Now the question remains, will the government initiate a “carrots and sticks” approach to implement major reforms in bureaucracy?
A couple of days back, Muhammad Fouzul Kabir Khan (Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Advisor) strongly criticised the country’s bureaucracy, terming it a heavy burden with no sense of responsibility. Characterising it as a major, self-serving obstacle to economic development and energy sector stability, he described bureaucracy as a significant, self-perpetuating and rent-seeking force that hampered the nation’s progress and created a “man-made” crisis in all sectors. However, his straightforward comments, made between late 2024 and early 2026, have highlighted deep-seated corruption, inefficiency and resistance to reform, describing the bureaucracy as “impossible to fix”. Advisor Fouzul Kabir Khan also stated that the bureaucracy lacks humanity and a sense of responsibility. He described the bureaucratic structure as a massive burden on the citizens, often focusing more on paperwork, meetings and personal perks rather than solving public problems. Expressing deep frustration, he criticised the officials for ignoring daily citizen struggles and failing to act in the public interest.
Bureaucracy in Bangladesh is heavily centralised, nakedly politicised and closely aligned with the ruling elites, often functioning as an instrument of power rather than a service-orientated body. It is characterised by excessive red tape, inefficiency and a lack of accountability, resulting in indifference to public service delivery and, frequently, an obstacle to sustainable development. Despite numerous reform attempts over the past 50 years, the administrative system remains largely unchanged.
The notion that high salaries for the country’s bureaucracy reduce corruption is largely considered to be a fallacy because pay hikes often fail to curb graft, which is deeply rooted in structural, institutional and political-economy issues. Despite multiple pay revisions and significant pay raises (e.g., in 2015), corruption has reached alarming levels and remained endemic. The 2024 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) by Transparency International ranks Bangladesh at 151 out of 180 countries, with a score of 23 out of 100, indicating high levels of corruption.
Over the years, bureaucracy has been criticised for being inefficient, unresponsive to public needs and slow in service delivery, but it has been highly focused on seniority-based promotions, pay upgrades and perks. Rooted in a colonial structure, the administrative system often prioritises internal hierarchy over public accountability, with widespread political influence or allegiance determining career advancement.
Public services are frequently marked by apathy and a lack of accountability. Citizens often encounter bureaucratic hurdles; the administration fails to meet the needs of the people, contributing to poor governance. There is a high intensity in seeking promotions and improved pay scales, bypassing merit-based criteria. Promotions are sometimes accelerated regardless of professional efficiency and performance. Even, in some cases, training requirements are waived.
The system is heavily politicised, with promotions and key postings often decided by political allegiance and personal connections to superiors rather than skills or efficiency. The rigid, hierarchical structure suppresses innovation from junior officers. Despite various measures, significant reform in the civil service has been very slow. Even in post-uprising Bangladesh, the administrative system remains almost unchanged, retaining many colonial-era features.
An overreliance on outdated, paper-based processes where files pass through multiple, unnecessary layers of authority for approvals leads to unnecessary procrastination. Inefficiency in the civil administration, from the secretariat to local offices, has created a “year on hold” scenario, stalling urgent development projects. Though e-governance initiatives have been introduced, many have failed due to a lack of enforcement and resistance from the government officials fearing transparency or accountability. A serious lack of responsibility means that bureaucratic delays hardly result in consequences for the government officials. The performance appraisal system tends to prioritise seniority over professional efficiency or merit, with generalists often in technical roles leading to poor public policy formulation. Besides, there is strong resistance to positive reforms from within the system, with several reports suggesting a “surrender” of political leadership to the state machinery. Bureaucratic red tape, rampant corruption and infrastructural gaps have been identified as an impediment to business and investment. The “rent-seeking” culture (expecting bribes/extra money to speed up services) has added significant costs to economic activities across the country.
The public service experts or researchers advocate for a major structural overhaul, suggesting a complete reinvention of bureaucracy rather than routine reforms, focusing on meritocracy and professional capacity. Since corruption has been embedded in the system, the government should seriously introduce a “carrots and sticks” approach to implement substantial reforms like increased accountability, strict enforcement of rules and exemplary punishment of corrupt officials. Implementing e-governance in the civil services and providing greater operational autonomy to field-level officials or bureaucrats to improve service delivery are crucial.
The future elected government should have a strong political will to strengthen the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), ensuring its independence or autonomy. The Public Service Commission needs to play a tough role in ending the politicisation of the civil service by prioritising merit in recruitment and promotion. And, of course, public or citizen feedback on service delivery should be taken into account when it comes to promoting an official. Key performance indicators (KPI) replacing the annual confidential report (ACR) need to be introduced immediately.
Some newspaper reports indicated earlier that an influential section of bureaucracy acted as a major bottleneck by obstructing or weakening reform initiatives undertaken by the interim government. The state machinery is dominated by the BCS administration cadre receiving the majority of promotions, causing resentment among other BCS cadres. This had been a pressing issue last year. However, these unprofessional practices, with a colonial mindset, based on political loyalty and personal gain rather than merit/professional efficiency, must come to an end.
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The writer is an Associate Professor, Department of English, Stamford University Bangladesh. He could be reached at
[email protected]
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