In an interview with Prothom Alo recently, the chief advisor of the interim government, Professor Muhammad Yunus, said that the government is a ‘great engine’. It is a great challenge to manage all its parts together properly.
My teacher, renowned economist Prof. Akhlakur Rahman used to compare running a government to flying an airplane in the sky. He used to say that in order to fly an aircraft, it is not only necessary to control the engine of the aircraft, but also to keep a close eye on the external conditions such as weather, visibility (visibility) etc.
Actually running a government is much harder than running an airplane. Because the government has to work with people, society; They are much more difficult to regulate or control than machines.
The current interim government has taken over in the face of widespread popular demand following the overthrow of a dictatorial government through a historic mass coup; But from time to time various advisers say that some part of the government machinery is not working well. They sometimes express anger and frustration.
Along with the development of liberal democratic political and economic system, there has been a great change in the mindset and thinking of the public administration system. In particular, people and society come to the center of the state along with the concept of welfare state.
One of the goals of public administration is to reduce the distance between the state and the people and make public administration more participatory and inclusive.
In administrative culture, instead of the old authoritarian behavior, emphasis is placed on developing human relations, so that all organs of the administration work together with team spirit.
In that context, ‘team building’ in public administration is one of the main functions of modern public administration. In the current context of increasing administrative efficiency, the question arises whether we are able to do human relations development and team building properly to increase administrative efficiency and sense of responsibility? Can I properly motivate and inspire the team?
On November 12, an exchange meeting was held between the editors and senior journalists of daily newspapers with the information adviser in the meeting room of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. Adviser Nahid Islam emphasized on free flow of information in this meeting. He urged the media to play a leading role in preventing the spread of rumors and disinformation. Such exchange meetings are very important and commendable for building trust and information flow among participants. Hope such exchange meetings will be held regularly.
The news of this exchange meeting and the pictures of the meeting have been published in various media. In that picture, the adviser and the secretary of the ministry are sitting on two big chairs. On the other hand, the senior journalists and editors participating in the meeting are sitting on the common small chairs. This type of seat system is not only in the Ministry of Information, but in all other ministries, government, semi-government offices and even district and upazila level meetings of the country. Such discriminatory seat system has become a culture in Bangladesh, which is not only limited to government offices, but has spread to political parties and even non-governmental organizations.
Many may say, who sits where and in what kind of chair at the meeting is a trivial matter, what is there to discuss; But actually the matter is not so trivial. Because, this variation of the seat system is done to show the difference in the hierarchy of state positions and power. It is a colonial and bureaucratic culture introduced by the British.
During colonial times, British officials characterized the chair as a symbol of their control and authority over local officials. So it’s not just a seat; A symbol of power and authority and indicative of a hierarchy of power. Through this, it is determined in advance who’s role in the meeting, who can say what and how much their words will be worth. Through this kind of subculture gradually establishment of authority and feeling of authority is born.
In fact, the difference in meeting chairs is a symbol of the inherent inequality in society. Although the British have long since abandoned the old discriminatory seat system in their country; But Bangladesh is still carrying the British colonial bureaucratic culture.
In an interview with Prothom Alo recently, the chief advisor of the interim government, Professor Muhammad Yunus, said that the government is a ‘great engine’. It is a great challenge to manage all its parts together properly.
My teacher, renowned economist Prof. Akhlakur Rahman used to compare running a government to flying an airplane in the sky. He used to say that in order to fly an aircraft, it is not only necessary to control the engine of the aircraft, but also to keep a close eye on the external conditions such as weather, visibility (visibility) etc.
Actually running a government is much harder than running an airplane. Because the government has to work with people, society; They are much more difficult to regulate or control than machines.
The current interim government has taken over in the face of widespread popular demand following the overthrow of a dictatorial government through a historic mass coup; But from time to time various advisers say that some part of the government machinery is not working well. They sometimes express anger and frustration.
Along with the development of liberal democratic political and economic system, there has been a great change in the mindset and thinking of the public administration system. In particular, people and society come to the center of the state along with the concept of welfare state.
One of the goals of public administration is to reduce the distance between the state and the people and make public administration more participatory and inclusive.
In administrative culture, instead of the old authoritarian behavior, emphasis is placed on developing human relations, so that all organs of the administration work together with team spirit.
In that context, ‘team building’ in public administration is one of the main functions of modern public administration. In the current context of increasing administrative efficiency, the question arises whether we are able to do human relations development and team building properly to increase administrative efficiency and sense of responsibility? Can I properly motivate and inspire the team?
On November 12, an exchange meeting was held between the editors and senior journalists of daily newspapers with the information adviser in the meeting room of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. Adviser Nahid Islam emphasized on free flow of information in this meeting. He urged the media to play a leading role in preventing the spread of rumors and disinformation. Such exchange meetings are very important and commendable for building trust and information flow among participants. Hope such exchange meetings will be held regularly.
The news of this exchange meeting and the pictures of the meeting have been published in various media. In that picture, the adviser and the secretary of the ministry are sitting on two big chairs. On the other hand, the senior journalists and editors participating in the meeting are sitting on the common small chairs. This type of seat system is not only in the Ministry of Information, but in all other ministries, government, semi-government offices and even district and upazila level meetings of the country. Such discriminatory seat system has become a culture in Bangladesh, which is not only limited to government offices, but has spread to political parties and even non-governmental organizations.
Many may say, who sits where and in what kind of chair at the meeting is a trivial matter, what is there to discuss; But actually the matter is not so trivial. Because, this variation of the seat system is done to show the difference in the hierarchy of state positions and power. It is a colonial and bureaucratic culture introduced by the British.
During colonial times, British officials characterized the chair as a symbol of their control and authority over local officials. So it’s not just a seat; A symbol of power and authority and indicative of a hierarchy of power. Through this, it is determined in advance who’s role in the meeting, who can say what and how much their words will be worth. Through this kind of subculture gradually establishment of authority and feeling of authority is born.
In fact, the difference in meeting chairs is a symbol of the inherent inequality in society. Although the British have long since abandoned the old discriminatory seat system in their country; But Bangladesh is still carrying the British colonial bureaucratic culture.
