Serving the people is the main duty of an elected government, Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives Minister Dr Abdul Moyeen Khan has said.
He said public representatives and government officials must work responsibly to meet the expectations with which people vote for a government.
He was speaking as chief guest on Tuesday, 6 October, at a discussion marking National Birth and Death Registration Day 2026 in the Grand Ballroom of the Hotel Sonargaon in the capital. The event was organised by the Office of the Registrar General, Birth and Death Registration, under the Local Government Division. Mir Shahe Alam, state minister for local government, rural development and cooperatives, was present.
The minister said it was the duty of public representatives to do the people’s work properly, and that if any local government representative failed in that work, the responsibility ultimately fell on the government.
Drawing a distinction between government officials and elected representatives, he said government employees can count on about 35 to 40 years in service once they enter office, while representatives elected by the people have a term of only five years. After five years they must face the people again and be re-elected on the evidence of their work. “So the importance of our work and our accountability are much greater,” he said.
Referring to the suffering of ordinary people in rural areas, he said that in many cases ordinary and less educated people go to the union parishad day after day for a birth registration and still do not get the certificate. This must change, he said. “We are a government elected by the people’s vote, so looking after the people’s convenience and difficulties should be our main goal.”
He said discussions would be held with those responsible so that birth and death registration runs properly and without interruption, and expressed his resolve to take strict measures on the matter in future.
He said government officers and employees and elected public representatives all have the same basic purpose, which is to serve the people. The methods may differ, but both should have the same goal in discharging their duty to the people. People expect a great deal from an elected government, he said, so it must work responsibly to meet those expectations.
He said the power in the government’s hands must be used to serve the people: not to obstruct services, but to meet people’s needs and secure their rights.
On birth and death registration, the minister said the work is extremely important for national administration, but there are major inconsistencies between the country’s actual population and the data in the registration database. In a country of about 190 million people, it is a matter of concern that the database holds data on far more people than that, he said. Such inconsistencies must be removed and the registration system made accurate and credible.
He said people cannot be served by computers or technology alone, and the people behind the technology must be responsible. It must be ensured that no citizen has to go to the union parishad again and again for a simple birth certificate.
Speaking as special guest, State Minister Mir Shahe Alam said the late President Ziaur Rahman and former Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia had contributed to the important initiatives taken in Bangladesh.
The event was chaired by Local Government Division Secretary Md Shahidul Hasan. Guests included ICT Division Secretary Md Mamunur Rashid Bhuiyan, Cabinet Division Secretary (Coordination and Reforms) Farah Shammi, Dr Michal Krejza, head of development cooperation at the European Union Delegation in Dhaka, and UNICEF Bangladesh representative Gillian Mellsop, along with officials concerned.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report