Taskforce proposes overhaul of BBS
Staff Reporter:
The Taskforce on Strengthening the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) has recommended transforming the agency into an autonomous institution called Statistics Bangladesh (StatBD) to restore public confidence and ensure professional independence in the production and dissemination of national data.
For years, the BBS’s credibility has suffered due to external interference in releasing key reports, often delayed or restricted for political, bureaucratic, or donor-related reasons.
The taskforce, led by economist Dr Hossain Zillur Rahman, said such practices have weakened the agency’s institutional autonomy and reduced the policy impact of its data.
In its report to the interim government, the eight-member panel stresses that reforming BBS’s legal and structural framework is crucial for ensuring its operational freedom.
Although the Statistics Act, 2013 grants the bureau a formal mandate, loopholes have left it open to government control—particularly when data contradict official narratives. The taskforce recommends amending the Act and introducing stronger legal protections for professional independence.
Key proposals include a revamped structure and financial autonomy for StatBD, formation of a Trust and Transparency Commission of Statistics—chaired by the planning adviser or minister—to oversee budgets, audits, and reports, guaranteed funding for 12 core surveys and censuses, and establishment of a new training academy to enhance analytical and technical skills.
To match its expanded responsibilities, the taskforce suggests doubling BBS’s organisational wings from 8 to 16, increasing cadre positions from 423 to 946, and upgrading senior posts.
The agency would be led by a chief statistician with special-grade status, replacing the current director general, supported by a new grade-1 additional chief statistician.
At the field level, new assistant statistician positions would be introduced, while current statistical officers would be redesignated as senior assistant statisticians, aligning with public administration reform guidelines on promotion parity.
“Reliable data are essential for effective policy and planning,” the report notes, adding that transforming BBS into a modern, credible national statistical body requires comprehensive institutional and legal reform.
The taskforce also endorsed two upcoming government policies — the Data Dissemination Policy 2025 and Statistical Compilation, Publication, and Preservation Policy 2025 — and proposed a reform implementation team headed by the planning adviser to oversee progress.
Formed in April this year, the taskforce includes economists Atonu Rabbani, Fahmida Khatun, Mohammad Yunus, and Mohammad Abdur Razzaque, statistician Syed Shahadat Hossain, and population scientist Mohammad Mainul Islam.
