Interim govt to fast-track admin reforms
Staff Reporter :
The interim government has decided to begin immediate implementation of the recommendations put forward by the Public Administration Reform Commission, as part of its broader initiative to streamline governance and improve public service delivery.
The decision was made during a high-level meeting held at the Chief Adviser’s Office (CAO) on 16 June. The meeting was chaired by M Siraz Uddin Miah, Principal Secretary to the Chief Adviser, according to a press release issued by the CAO Press Wing on Friday.
The meeting reviewed progress on a number of reform proposals submitted by six major commissions established by the interim government, which came to power through a student-led and people-supported movement. These commissions were tasked with developing policy recommendations aimed at realigning public administration with the expectations of the people.
Among them, the National Consensus Commission — led by Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus — continues its work on constitution-related and institutional reforms. Meanwhile, the Chief Adviser has instructed ministries to move forward promptly with those reform proposals that fall within their administrative jurisdiction.
Following these directives, the Cabinet Division issued formal communication to all ministries and divisions on 25 May 2025. So far, the Cabinet Division has identified 121 proposals from five commissions as immediately implementable. These include 9 proposals from the Electoral System Reform Commission, 38 from the Judiciary Reform Commission, 43 from the Anti-Corruption Reform Commission, 13 from the Police Reform Commission and 18 from the Public Administration Reform Commission.
The June 16 meeting focused specifically on the 18 proposals submitted by the Public Administration Reform Commission, with particular attention paid to eight proposals deemed relatively straightforward to implement. The key decisions and action points are hygienic toilets at petrol and CNG stations, upgrading ministry websites, school and college managing committees, community health centre management via NGOs, regular public hearings in government offices, review of key legislative acts, reform of Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) and digital transformation and e-government services.
The Energy and Mineral Resources Division will convene a meeting with the Petrol Pump and CNG Owners Association to set a deadline—by 20 July 2025—for the installation of hygienic, gender-specific toilets at all fuel stations. District administrations will oversee and report on implementation.
The ICT Division will meet with all ministries within a week to discuss updating ministry websites, ensuring timely information and feedback mechanisms for citizens. National data governance interoperability is to be completed within two months.
The Secondary and Higher Education Division will finalise policy on forming managing committees for educational institutions with participation from government officials. Following vetting by the Ministry of Public Administration, the restructuring is to be completed within one month of policy issuance.
The Health Services Division will consult with relevant non-governmental organisations and the NGO Affairs Bureau to develop a strategy for the management of community health centres.
The Cabinet Division will coordinate with service-delivery ministries to institutionalise public hearings at regular intervals.
Time-bound action plans will be adopted to review and amend the Right to Information Act 2009 and the colonial-era Official Secrets Act 1923. Responsibility lies with the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and the Cabinet Division, respectively.
Plans will be developed to restructure the BBS into a ‘Bangladesh Statistical Commission’, aligned with recommendations and in coordination with ongoing reforms supported by the World Bank.
The ICT Division will create a timeline to incorporate all government services onto the interim government’s citizen platform. Ministries are to submit their respective action plans within one month.
The Principal Secretary emphasised that each ministry and division will establish its own implementation team with a defined timeline. Oversight will be provided by a central monitoring team under the Governance Innovation Unit (GIU), supervised by the Secretary to the Chief Adviser. The Cabinet Division will also maintain a parallel monitoring process.
Such meetings will be held on a regular basis to review progress and expand the scope of reform. According to the press release, 54 ministries have collectively undertaken 1,061 reform and development initiatives in recent months — both major and minor — as part of this comprehensive reform agenda.
