Directives Issued: Bodies to be formed to identify corrupt officials

DHAKA: The government has issued 23 directives to secretaries, including forming internal committees to identify officials and employees facing corruption allegations, discouraging repeated foreign trips by the same individuals, installing solar panels at government offices and making digital attendance mandatory.

The decisions were taken at a meeting of secretaries held at the Cabinet Division’s conference room on September 15. Cabinet Secretary Nasimul Gani chaired the meeting, which was attended by the chief secretary to the prime minister and senior secretaries and secretaries of various ministries and divisions. The decisions were later sent in writing to all ministries and divisions.

Under the decisions, each ministry and division will have to form an internal committee to identify officials and employees who have faced corruption allegations at multiple workplaces. If the allegations are proven, necessary action will have to be taken against them, alongside effective measures to prevent corruption.

The government has also decided to discourage repeated foreign trips by the same officials and employees. Relevant ministries and divisions have been instructed to take necessary measures in this regard.

To ensure energy efficiency in government offices, ministries, divisions and their subordinate offices have been instructed to install solar panels. Progress reports on the initiative will have to be sent to the Power Division every two months. Authorities have also been instructed to take measures to prevent unnecessary and excessive electricity consumption.

Digital attendance systems have been ordered at all government offices to ensure employees arrive at work on time. Necessary attendance machines will have to be installed, while the ICT Division will arrange to link attendance data to a central dashboard.

The meeting also stressed maintaining cleanliness at government offices. Upazila-level offices will have to submit reports to the upazila nirbahi officer every 15 days. The reports will then be forwarded to the Cabinet Division through the deputy commissioner and divisional commissioner.

Departmental action under the Government Servants (Discipline and Appeal) Rules, 2018 has been ordered against employees who lobby through other people on matters related to their government jobs. Dossiers will also be prepared to preserve information on such incidents.

To increase the use of digital systems in official activities, ministries and divisions have been instructed to complete all feasible activities through the D-Noth system while maintaining confidentiality and dispose of incoming letters and files within the prescribed deadlines.

Other directives include filling vacant posts quickly, abolishing unnecessary and redundant posts, ensuring hassle-free services for service seekers, updating organisational structures, preparing career plans for government employees and submitting annual reports on a cadre-wise basis.