Tell people they can avail of govt services without lobbying: President

President Abdul Hamid on Tuesday urged the government officials to earn the confidence of people that they can avail of government services without any lobbying.

“There’s a lack of confidence among people that they can avail of various services from many government organisations with transparency and sincerity. You (public servants) need to raise the awareness of people in this regard,” he said.

The President said this while addressing the award-giving ceremony of Public Administration Padak-2019 at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre in the city.

President Hamid said there is a need for building a relation of trust between the government officials and the people of the country.

"There must be a trusted relationship between the public servants and the people of the Republic. Almost all the government offices have attractive citizen charters. So, it’s necessary to monitor whether people can avail of the government services," he added.

The President also said the government officials have a greater role in formulating plans and implementing those with due emphasis on public interest.

Hamid said many roads and culverts are built in rural areas without any proper plan obstructing the natural flow of water. “Even in some cases, the construction quality is found so poor that those require reconstruction even before the completion of their works.”       

He further said, “The government has been implementing various development projects in the country but still we need to do more to ensure the desired progress.”        

Underscoring the need for a transparent, skilled and accountable administration, President Hamid asked the authorities concerned to ensure transparency and accountability at every level to achieve the desired goal of sustainable development.

"The British had introduced administration in this Indo-Pak subcontinent to rule and loot it. Public welfare was not there in their mind,” he said adding, “Now we’re the citizens of an independent country and the main aim of the administration is to serve people. So, there’s no alternative to changing the traditional attitude of the public servants."

President Hamid said transparency and accountability will have to be ensured at all levels. "And only then the development activities of the government will be sustainable. Remember, the administration is for the people as the people are not for the administration."

The current government has taken admirable steps in reforming the civil service and adopting new strategies for providing government services before adopting the zero tolerance policy against corruption, he said.

Referring to various social problems, the President urged all to stay alert so that opportunists cannot create any instability in the country over various social issues to gain their personal interest.

The National Public Service Day-2019 is being observed with an objective to encourage and motivate the government officials to perform their duties with an aim to ensure the welfare of people.

President Hamid also greeted and distributed awards among the recipients.

State Minister for Public Administration Farhad Hossain presided over the function while Public Administration Secretary Faiz Ahmed delivered the welcome speech.

Source: unb