Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed has called on government officials and employees to discharge their duties with patriotism, integrity, and professionalism, remaining completely free from political bias in order to meet public expectations.
He said, “The civil service is the main driving force of the state. We must move away from the administrative politicisation of the past 17 years and transform public administration into a true servant of the people.”
Citizens have high expectations of the current government, and transparency and accountability must be ensured at every level of administration, he added.
The minister made these remarks on Sunday morning while inaugurating a four‑day workshop titled “Efficient, People‑Friendly and Accountable Public Administration: Strategies for Implementing Government Commitments” at the BCS Administration Academy auditorium in Shahbagh, marking National Public Service Day 2026.
He cautioned that merely holding workshops or drafting programs for formal or high‑level attention has no justification unless they serve genuine public welfare. “If these programmes do not benefit the people, there is no need to formulate them,” he said.
Addressing civil service officials, he added, “You are among the most privileged segments of society. Therefore, you must not consider yourselves rulers but dedicate yourselves to public service as servants of the people.”
Emphasising the need for a complete overhaul of the national statistics system, he said, “During previous regimes, all statistics were destroyed for political purposes. Census data, agricultural production figures, and per capita income were all misrepresented.”
Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) should be transformed into one of the country’s most important institutions to ensure sound policy formulation.
“Bangladesh still stands on agriculture and its farmers. We must build agro‑industries based on agriculture, fisheries, and livestock. At the same time, vocational training and technical education must be expanded to turn the country’s large population into skilled manpower,” he said.
The government is also considering reactivating the Family Planning Department to control the rising birth rate, he added.
A policy is formulated at the political level based on electoral mandates, while the bureaucracy’s role is to design programmes, prepare projects, and ensure proper implementation under IMED supervision.
Warning officials he said, “No activities can be carried out outside the rules. Your core responsibility is to implement, in accordance with regulations, the election manifesto and the 31 commitments on which the people have given their mandate to the elected government.”
