The National Assembly has taken the initiative to compile a list of officials and employees involved in controversial activities in the Parliament Secretariat during the fascist government. For this purpose, a committee has been formed comprising whips from the government and opposition parties. The committee has been given the power to summon officials and employees and office documents.
The committee formed to review the rearrangement of office rooms used in the main building of the National Assembly and related administrative issues has been chaired by the ruling party whip ABM Ashraf Uddin Nijan. The other members of the eight-member committee are Parliament Chief Whip Nurul Islam, Opposition Chief Whip Nahid Islam, government whips GK Gaus, Rakibul Islam, Mia Nuruddin Ahmed Apu, Akhtaruzzaman Mia and Jamaat-e-Islami member (Opposition Whip) Rafiqul Islam Khan.
The Parliament Secretariat ordered the formation of the committee on August 16. It said that the committee was formed by Acting Speaker Kaiser Kamal in consultation with Chief Whip Nurul Islam and Opposition Chief Whip Nahid and other whips to review and make recommendations on the reorganization of the office rooms used in the main building of the National Parliament, the rationality of using the office space of the Public Works Department, and related administrative issues.
The committee has been given the authority to carry out several tasks, one of which is to compile a list of officials and employees involved in illegal, immoral or party-interest activities committed during the past fascist and authoritarian regimes and make recommendations on what to do about them.
When asked why the issue of verifying the information of officials and employees came up six months after the formation of the new government, several officials of the Parliament Secretariat said that after the political change, a section of the officials and employees of the Parliament Secretariat are trying to attack each other with the tag of ‘fascist’. Again, several officials who were benefited during the previous government are changing their faces and taking various benefits by posing as supporters of the current government. After a section of the officials brought the matter to the attention of the Speaker, Chief Whip and other whips, it has been brought under the jurisdiction of the committee.
The terms of reference also state that the committee can invite any officer or employee to the meeting if necessary. In addition, the committee will have the power to collect necessary documents, information, floor plans and reports from the concerned departments.
When asked about this, committee member Chief Whip Nurul Islam told Amar Desh that the committee has been given the authority to work on many issues. Among them are the issues of officials. If the issue is not identified, it is not possible to say anything. However, we are facing various obstacles while working. Various incidents have occurred. We are still suffering with the sound system. The media can investigate the issue. Whether it is sabotage or not is also a matter of concern. There are many things. Ghosts are everywhere.
Committee President Ashraf Uddin Nijan said, Parliament House is a KPI area. The leader of the parliament, the leader of the opposition, and 350 members of parliament live here. Their security is very important. The job of the employees of the republic is to perform their duties in such a way that the republic is not damaged in any way. But in the past, we have seen many overzealous employees go too far. They should be identified. Otherwise, there is a risk of sabotage. We want to identify completely impartially whether anyone is involved in such incidents. We do not want to hurt or expel anyone.
The committee’s terms of reference state that the committee will review the location, size and requirements of the office rooms currently used for various departments of the National Parliament Secretariat. It will initiate the process of shifting the relevant departments of the Parliament Secretariat to the ground floor and determine the required area and make recommendations to the Speaker.
Besides, the committee will prepare a complete list of where, how much and for what purpose various departments and branches of the Public Works Department are using office rooms in the Parliament Building area. The rationality of using these rooms will also be verified. The committee will also make recommendations on reducing, merging, redistributing and transferring unnecessary or excess office rooms.
According to the Public Works Department, the building’s design by Louis Kahn was supposed to have 400 rooms. But now there are more than 500. The Parliament Secretariat has created numerous small rooms by using wooden partitions in the larger rooms.
Several people in charge of the parliament said that although there are more than 400 rooms in the main building of the parliament, it is not possible to allocate rooms to ministers, state ministers and members of parliamentary committees. Some branches have allocated more rooms than required. Some branches have allocated fewer rooms than required. In this case, the branches that provide emergency assistance during the session have not been allocated rooms near the session room. Again, even though the Public Works Department has an office in the Parliament Secretariat area outside the main building, several rooms have been allocated to them in the main building. Parliament officials believe that this is much more than necessary. According to them, if rooms are allocated according to need, rooms can be allocated to the chairmen of all parliamentary committees inside the main building.
When asked about this, Ashraf Uddin Nijan said, “The spaces of the Louis Kahn-designed National Parliament Building are currently in disarray. We want to arrange them. Who needs how much space in the building, which departments need more or less space, and which should be on which floor – these will be reorganized through a report after considering and considering.”
