District admins see major pre-polls reshuffles

In a significant reshuffling of field-level administration ahead of the national polls, the government has appointed five divisional commissioners in the past one month, and 38 new deputy commissioners in the last five months since March.  

In addition, 15 new superintendents of police (SPs) have been appointed in various districts and agencies, and changes have also been made to the top posts of Ansar, the force responsible for various election tasks including security, centre management and transportation of voting equipment.

The Ministry of Public Administration has appointed new DCs in 30 districts, in three phases from 6 July to 10 July. Before that, new DCs were appointed at eight districts on 12 March, and new SPs were appointed to 13 districts on 13 June.

Eight of the newly appointed DCs have previously served as private secretaries to ministers, mayors, state ministers and deputy ministers, and five others were officials of the Prime Minister's Office (PMO). 

Four of the new DCs were deputy secretaries at the Ministry of Public Administration.

The new DC of Patuakhali, Nur Kutubul Alam, previously served as private secretary to the Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, while the new DC of Jashore, Mohammad Abraul Hasan Mojumder, was private secretary to the State Minister for Shipping.

The new DC of Bandarban, Shah Mozahid Uddin, earlier served as private secretary to the Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) mayor, while the new DC of Pabna, Muhammad Asaduzzaman, was private secretary to the Home Minister.

M Arifuzzaman, former private secretary to the Deputy Minister for Water Resources, has been appointed Shariatpur DC, and M Mushfiqur Rahman, former private secretary to State Minister for Disaster Management and Relief, has been made Cumilla DC.

Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) mayor's former private secretary, Mohammad Marufur Rashid Khan, has been made Madaripur DC, while Abu Naser Bhuiyan, former private secretary to State Minister for Youth and Sport, has been made Natore DC.

Md Kawsarul Islam, former private secretary to the prime minister's principal secretary, has been made Tangail DC, and SM Rafiqul Islam, former private secretary to the commerce secretary, has been appointed as Jhenaidah DC. 

The newly appointed DCs will be in charge of the districts during the 12th national elections scheduled to be held in December or January. 

Alongside representing the central administration at the district-level, DCs also play the role of returning officers (ROs) during elections.

In addition, the government has assigned new divisional commissioners to Rajshahi, Mymensingh, Barishal, Khulna and Chattogram divisions in the last month, with Additional Secretary Tofail Islam, who was director of Central Medical Store Depot (CMSD), being the latest appointee on 10 July.

Regarding the reshuffle in the administration, former cabinet secretary Ali Imam Majumder told The Business Standard, "Transfers in the post of DCs or transferable posts are routine activities. But it should be checked whether it is done as per routine or outside of it. If it is out of routine, it should be reviewed to see what the reasoning is".

Asked if the transfers have been made considering the upcoming election, he said, "Everything depends on the election environment. If the election becomes fair, it will reduce the chance of any official having a special role. And if it's a 2014 or 2018 like election, the changes [transfers] don't make any difference".