The four-day annual conference of the deputy commissioners (DCs Conference-2024) began in the capital Dhaka. This year’s DCs conference is very important as it is being held immediately after the country’s January 7 general election.
Besides, this conference is the first one as the fifth year tenure of a record fourth straight term of ruling Awami League began on January 10 with the impact following the Covid-19 pandemic coupled with Russia-Ukraine and Palestine-Israel war on our country, different natural disasters and conspiracies of the hostile politics. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the conference after assuming office for the record fifth term after winning the 12th parliamentary election.
The subsequent working sessions of the conference will take place from today (Monday). Various proposals have been made prioritising issues including enhancing public services, reducing public hassles, construction of roads and highways and bridges, expansion of tourism, amendments of rules and laws for the welfare and protection of public interests.
Ministers and secretaries of different ministries and divisions will join the discussion and give necessary directives to the DCs. The DCs and divisional commissioners will have meetings with the Prime Minister, Jatiya Sangsad Speaker, and the Chief Justice.
In the conference the DCs will exchange views with the relevant ministries for the implementation of various policies, strategies and instructions of the government. They will also come up with various reform proposals based on the challenges they face, the experience they accumulate at the field level while implementing the government’s various directives and policies.
The conference is held every year to discuss the ways and means of the execution of different policies, guidelines, priorities of the government as well as the proposals of field-level officials for smooth and effective functioning of the government and maintaining law and order in the country. The DCs get opportunities to interact with Prime Minister, ministers and secretaries on development and governance issues. They will set out priorities and guidelines for working for the next one year based on the outcome of the conference.
This year’s DCs
conference is very important
as it is being held
immediately after the
country’s January 7 general election
Apart from taking extra caution against conspirators and troublemakers, maintaining law and order, resolving land-related problems, accelerating activities of local government institutions, disaster management, implementation of poverty alleviation programmes and social safety net programmes are some of the key issues to be discussed in the conference. Ministries concerned will have to issue necessary directives to the deputy commissioners to carry out inspecting the wholesale markets to monitor prices of essential commodities as the holy Ramadan is very near.
The prices of all varieties of rice and essential commodities have shot up in the country’s wholesale and retail markets. The Ministers concerned will have to instruct DCs to further speed up their activities to keep up the ongoing development spree to make Bangladesh a developed, prosperous and smart country by 2041.
DCs must work sincerely for the rapid implementation of the government’s programme. We believe the government led by Sheikh Hasina is running the country with a specific target to turn it into a developed and prosperous one and want to take it to a dignified position for which it has formulated the plan as well as budget. Therefore, DCs’ role is very crucial to reach government services to people’s doorsteps in this regard.
They must serve as real ‘public servants’ and give priority to greater interests of the country alongside submitting their proposals to the government with a view to getting necessary guidelines. We think the conference will gear up grassroots administration, accelerate development activities of the government, analyse and evaluate the government’s policy execution at grassroots level and hold direct views-exchange meeting between the government’s policymakers and DCs.
