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Eligibility and leadership

28 April 2006, 18:00 PM
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
By Md. Khasrul Alam, Salimullah Road, Mohammadpur, Dhaka
28 April 2006, 18:00 PM
Knowledgeable and competent persons will be placed at the highest positions everywhere in the society; this is the expectation of all of us. But what is the real scenario? In Bangladesh, many highest posts are captured the persons whose eligibility is questionable. Often they are elected by the masses people. They swear to the people that they would do their best; even staking their life for the people. Do they do that? In this way they achieve the goal of their life. On the other hand a simple first class officer has to pass the highest degree then go through a series of competitive exams and finally, a viva voce to the employer to show his/her competence for the post of Tk. 6800/= scale. But the government that drive them is constituted with the elected people who need no academic qualification, no competitive exams, no interviews to the employer, no innovative ideas but receive only party's nomination and enjoy much more than adequate facilities. A not-so-enlightened person knows little about his/her mistakes. He/She hardly knows about what is right and what is wrong. So the decisions they will take must have the chance to be wrong. Do such persons deserve to administer better learned government officers?

Everyday we are talking about our problems, about threats, about adverse situation created by some miscreants, etc. We are designing various policies for controlling the same. We are wasting a considerable amount of our valuable time, which may be used for some productive work, allowing us to protect against the evil deeds. Sometimes we succeed but over all we have failed to uproot these threats. On the other hand, these kinds of intimidations are appearing in more astonishing and innovative ways! Are these miscreants more talented than our security personnel? What is the reason behind this? Who are the people in our national administration? Why do we fail again and again in containing miscreants and become champion in corruption for the series of time?

This is high time we need to think about what we actually want? Since there is no indication about eligibility (a 25 years old person with mental fitness can be elected as a member of parliament) about the members of the parliament in the constitution it should be changed. The highest posts in a country must be achieved by the people with at least a standard level of education and other qualities. But there is a great problem what the people sent to the parliament will do? How far honest would they remain about their commitment to the people and patriotism?

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Several times proposals have been raised for increasing their (members and employees of the parliament) facilities and passed, but what about the mass people? A new scale is offered to the government employees after seven years, but mass people are facing continuous price spiral. This is the situation which often makes people clever rather than wise and honest. They involve themselves in politics not education. Dr. Humayun Kabir, one of my favourite teachers of Dhaka University once told us, "The most brilliant students should come to the educational sector in their professional life. The second most brilliants should come to politics. But we have got the reverse situation. The worst ones come to politics because this is the easy way to make money". This is the most tragic trend in our society.

I like to take the opportunity here to explain honesty as financial honesty and ethical honesty both, because some people think and emphasise on honesty related only to financial dealings. Therefore, we must be qualified, and of course, honestly do good to the country, for there is no alternative way for our existence. I have no intention to hurt anybody but if it does, I beg apology.