Manpower office undermanned, secretariat overstuffed

A recent media report exposes how a district manpower office is struggling with the shortage of manpower when the office is mandated to shoot the troubles of manpower shortage of different countries of the world.

The dateline is Moulvibazar District Manpower and Employment Office.

The office manages 150 to 200 people of two districts — Habiganj and Moulvibazar, seeking jobs abroad.

Those, who look for jobs abroad, have to mandatorily come to the office in person to register and give fingerprints. Moreover, the office has to investigate many things of aspirant migrants.

The office has five official posts — one assistant director, two manpower survey officers, one senior assistant/accountant and one office assistant — against a requirement of eight.

But two posts remain vacant, hampering the service of sending manpower overseas.

The ordeal becomes high for the office of two important labour-exporting districts of Bangladesh.

On top of all, the faulty server of the undermanned office is adding to the woes of service takers.

Shortage of staffers here but surplus there is the scenario in Bangladesh government’s service delivery system.

When top-tier government staffers are struggling to get desks, the lower tier remains slim, limping with manpower shortage.

Failure to serve the people on the part of bureaucracy is really deplorable, particularly in the case of migrant workers whose hard-earned money crucially contributes to the economy of a Southeast Asian country like Bangladesh.

We ask the authorities concerned must deploy the surplus staffers where there is a crisis of manpower at least on an emergency basis.

The government also should come forward to reform the bureaucracy to shoot the imbalance.

Even the High Court can give suo moto to fix the problem of top-heavy and imbalanced bureaucracy, taking a Public Interest Litigation into cognizance.