Abstract
A secretariat can be no more effective than the personnel who administer it. An effective parliament is too much to expect without strong parliamentary secretarial support. Various diagnostic studies reveal that in post-political transition societies there is an unpreparedness of the secretariat to shoulder the massive responsibilities of parliamentary governance. It was recognized in Bangladesh that if members and committee chairs were to make quality legislation and retain effective oversight of the executive, the Bangladesh Secretariat’s organizational and human capacity would have to be increased and improved. Thus, since the turn of the century, the Secretariat has been significantly reorganized in legal and organizational aspects. Measures include the enactment of the PSA 1994, the Bangladesh Institute of Parliamentary Studies (BIPS) Act 2001, and the Recruitment and Promotion Rules 2001. All three measures were geared toward making the Secretariat better resourced and independent of the executive. The Recruitment and Promotion Rules 2001 opened up the opportunity for career progression among the Secretariat’s staff with the view that they could assume the main responsibility of administering the Secretariat and gradually remove the officials on deputation from line ministries. The BIPS Act 2001 was intended to provide year-round training to Secretariat staff to ensure the regular supply of competent personnel and extend research services to MPs to improve to a global standard their capacity to discharge their mandated role effectively. This chapter traces the extent to which the measures recommended by the reformers have been implemented and aims to determine their present standing in supporting the current demands of Parliament following long and drawn-out human resource development programs.
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Notes
- 1.
Framing of rules:
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1.
The Speaker may, on consultation with the Parliament Secretariat Commission, by notification in the official Gazette, make rules for carrying out the purpose of this Act.
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2.
In particular and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing power rules shall be made in respect of all or any of the following matters:-
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(a)
arrangements for the development of, and the proceedings of, the Parliament Secretariat;
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(b)
distribution of duties among the officers and employees;
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(c)
maintenance of records and papers;
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(d)
conduct of the library;
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(e)
preparation of gratuity, journey bills and their signature and counter-signature;
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(f)
security of the Parliament Secretariat (http://www.commonlii.org/bd/legis/num_act/psa1994228/_)
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(g)
all matters concerning the residences of the Members of the Parliament;
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(h)
preparation of bills relating to remunerations, allowances and other privileges of the Members of the Parliament and discharge of the relevant duties connected with all those bills.
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(a)
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1.
- 2.
The author interviewed several key personnel on the subject of the Secretariat’s continued inadequacy even after prolonged training and capacity development initiatives in the post-restoration period. All respondents argued that the present staffing of the Secretariat is the root cause of its inefficiency; had the PSA 1994 been implemented in full the Secretariat would have been manned by its own permanent and efficient staff from day one.
- 3.
For deficiencies of Training System in Bangladesh See GOB: Towards Better Government 1993, UNDP: Raga Makharita, Mission report 1999 and ATM Obaidullah, “Image and Weakness of Bangladesh civil Service: an Overview” Administrative Change, January–December, 2001: 50.
- 4.
Monographs were prepared by senior MPs, academics, and think thank organizations, and published by the SPD-administered BIPS. The ten monographs include: Parliamentary Rules and Practices (in Bangla), Ahmed. N. Parliament and Public Spending in Bangladesh: Limits of Control, Hakim., A. The Changing Forms of Government in Bangladesh: The Transition to Parliamentary Democracy, Obaidullah. ATM. Democracy and Good Governance in Bangladesh: The Role of Ombudsman, Rahman, N. The Independence of the Speaker: The Westminster Model and the Australian Experiment, Ali Ashraf MP, Ethical Standard of Parliamentarians, Bhuiyan. R. Women, Democracy and Parliament, Khan, M.M. Relations between the Executive and Legislature.
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Obaidullah, A.T.M. (2019). Human Resource Development in Parliament Secretariat: An Overlooked Agenda. In: Institutionalization of the Parliament in Bangladesh. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-5317-7_8
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