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Public Administration Minister Syed Ashraf assumes office, says skilled officials will get importance
After assuming charge of the public administration ministry, Syed Ashraful Islam has stressed the importance of skilled officials.
Published : 20 July 2015, 04:57 PM
Updated : 21 July 2015, 03:03 PM
Also Read: Syed Ashraf assumes office
The Awami League general secretary, who was removed from the LGRD ministry on July 9, took charge on Monday, the first working day after the Eid holidays.
State Minister for Public Administration Ismat Ara Sadique welcomed Ashraf with a bouquet of flowers when he reached the office around 2:30pm.
Journalists had thronged the ministry following his removal and appointment by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina within the span of one week.
Responding to their queries, Ashraf said, “I don’t know whether partisanship has engulfed this ministry. We don’t believe in partisanship within the administration.
“Those who are skilled will work here. We are completely impartial and believe in giving those who are qualified the opportunity to work where they are most suited,” he said.
“This is a new ministry (for me); that’s why I’ll have to learn about its parameters and the decisions that need to be taken. We’ll continue our work,” Syed Ashraf said regarding the priorities and likely challenges he faced.
He said the public administration ministry would resume activities in full swing after the officials returned from vacation.
Before running the LGRD ministry for seven years in Hasina’s Cabinet, Ashraf was the state minister for civil aviation and tourism in the 1996 Awami League government.
On Monday, the new minister sat with officials including Secretary Kamal Abdul Naser Chowdhury.
After removing Ashraf from the crucial LGRD ministry, Prime Minister Hasina, on July 16, made him the public administration minister, another politically important portfolio she had kept to herself until now.
Syed Ashraf is the son of Syed Nazrul Islam, Bangladesh’s acting president during the 1971 Liberation War.
He is the first minister to handle the portfolio after the Ministry of Establishment was rechristened Ministry of Public Administration in 2010.
Ismat Ara, wife of former Awami League minister late AHSK Sadique, has been serving as the state minister for over a year now.
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