Ministers in charge of districts: Accountability returns

The year was 2021. The entire world, including Bangladesh, was ravaged by the COVID-19 pandemic. The country came to a standstill, and human lives were in jeopardy. Amid such a dire situation, the plight of people outside Dhaka became unbearable. At that moment, the then-government assigned one secretary to oversee each district. This decision was deeply humiliating to parliamentary democracy and the people's elected representatives.

Consequently, ministers were stripped of their power overnight, and members of parliament (MPs) were rendered helpless. Through this decision, bureaucracy was established in the country instead of parliamentary democracy. A culture was introduced where ministers and MPs had to beg bureaucrats for even tiny relief allocations. Taking advantage of the situation, bureaucrats began treating public representatives with contempt. They started lecturing ministers and MPs, advising them on what they should and should not do.

During this period, the then principal secretary to the prime minister, Ahmad Kaikaus, became the undisclosed prime minister. Among the many harmful decisions made for democracy and the people during the 15-year rule of the Awami League, handing all power over to bureaucrats was one of the worst. Through this, Bangladesh turned into a bureaucratic and police state – making a mockery of parliamentary democracy.

In 1991, parliamentary democracy was re-introduced in Bangladesh. After becoming prime minister, Begum Khaleda Zia took several steps to hand power back to the people. One of the most notable steps was assigning one minister to be in charge of each district. This was done to reduce bureaucratic red tape and ensure that people’s problems were resolved quickly.

Bangladesh's governance system is centralised and Dhaka-centric. Even for minor decisions, everyone has to look toward Dhaka. If small equipment in a hospital breaks down, fixing it requires permission from Dhaka; as a result, damaged machinery sits idle for years. Even if a vehicle breaks down at the sub-district (upazila) level, permission from Dhaka is needed to repair it. In this way, the country’s fate and the people's development remain trapped in the Secretariat.

During the Ershad regime, under the Rules of Business, secretaries were the chief executives of ministries, while ministers were merely advisers. Aligning with parliamentary democracy, Begum Zia made ministers the chief executives of their ministries and designated secretaries as chief financial officers.

To reduce reliance on the secretariat, she entrusted overall responsibility for each district to a minister. That minister visited at least one assigned district every week and held coordination meetings with government officials of all tiers. Attendees presented local-level problems and demands from their respective departments. The minister would then return to Dhaka and take the necessary steps to resolve those issues.

The minister’s second responsibility was engaging with local citizens. These weekly views-exchange meetings with people from various classes and professions allowed for detailed discussions regarding the performance of the local administration. Issues such as whether hospital doctors were attending duty regularly or whether police stations were harassing innocent people in the name of arresting criminals were discussed openly. Based on these discussions, the minister ensured the accountability of local administration officials.

Begum Zia’s decision created opportunities to solve people's problems at the local level and established a culture of field-level accountability. Most importantly, it freed the country from bureaucratic authority and moved it toward public empowerment. From 1991 to 2020, this system of accountability helped curb bureaucratic dominance at the field level to some extent, marking an important step toward handing power over to the people's elected representatives.

However, in 2020, handing district responsibilities back to secretaries questioned the very spirit of democracy and accountability.

Recently, the government redistributed the responsibility of all 64 districts among ministers, ministers of state, and whips of the national parliament. The assigned individuals will monitor and coordinate law and order, crime and drug control, anti-corruption efforts, good governance, transparency, accountability, and public development activities. This time, the tone of the responsibilities is slightly different.

Last Thursday, the Cabinet Division allocated charge of the country's 64 districts among 30 ministers, ministers of state, and three parliamentary whips. Some were given responsibility for one district, while others were assigned two to three districts.

The notification stated that during the past fascist regime, development allocations existed on paper for various districts, but widespread corruption led to massive looting. A portion of the looted money was laundered abroad, while the rest was used for drug trade, social degradation, and activities detrimental to public and state security. Under these circumstances, this supervision and coordination role has been assigned to ensure law and order, control corruption and drugs, and guarantee good governance at the district level.

The assigned individuals have not been given direct executive power. Their role is limited to supervision and coordination without curtailing the legal powers of local government institutions and other constitutional or statutory bodies. In other words, a system has been put in place to monitor the field administration so that it functions properly.

The notification regarding district responsibilities cited that this decision was made in accordance with Article 55(2) of the Constitution and relevant provisions of the Rules of Business.

Article 55(2) of the Constitution states: "The executive power of the Republic shall, in accordance with this Constitution, be exercised by or on the authority of the Prime Minister." This means the ultimate political authority over the executive or administrative powers of the state rests with the Prime Minister. Under her authority, ministers, ministries, and government entities exercise these powers.

Therefore, this government decision is brave, timely, and effective for injecting momentum into field administration. Since 2021, bureaucratic power at the field level had grown exponentially. Bureaucrats paid no heed to the public's wishes and were not accountable even to public representatives. During the Awami League era, MPs and representatives were not elected by public vote, which is why they accepted bureaucratic dominance without protest.

However, current Members of Parliament are elected representatives who must constantly care for the public's well-being – the very reason people voted for them. By entrusting district oversight to ministers, the present government has taken a step toward establishing people's governance while removing barriers to basic service delivery for marginalised communities. Above all, it will pave the way for coordinated development across the country.

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Audite Karim is a writer and playwright. Email: [email protected]