Akbar Ali resigns as RRC chief

Akbar Ali Khan has resigned as chairman of Regulatory Reforms Commission, accusing the government of not cooperating with the body. He told bdnews24.com on Friday he sent the letter to the principal secretary at the prime minister's office on Thursday. UPDATES

Dhaka, Oct 16 (bdnews24.com)–Akbar Ali Khan has resigned as chairman of Regulatory Reforms Commission, accusing the government of not cooperating with the body.

He told bdnews24.com on Friday he sent the letter to the principal secretary at the prime minister's office on Thursday.

"I have decided to resign since the government did not extend any sort of assistance to the Regulatory Reforms Commission."

The last caretaker government formed the 17-member RRC on Oct 30, 2007 with an aim to reform old, ineffective and complicated laws to fast track development through boosting investment and trade.

"I had sent the resignation letter to the prime minister's principal secretary through his personal assistant. He received the letter."

"I will not be involved with the activities of the Regulatory Reforms Commission from Sunday no matter if the resignation letter is accepted or not."

"I have requested the relevant departments several times to assist in the activities of the Commission. But having failed to get any cooperation from the government, I have been forced to make the decision," Khan added.

In an exclusive interview with bdnews24.com on Oct 4, Khan threatened to resign if the government did not revive the 'dysfunctional' commission in the next 15 days.

The former adviser to the caretaker government had alleged that the government was not cooperating with the commission.

"Rather, the government is hindering its activities," Khan had said.

"The commission's manpower has been withdrawn. No meeting of the commission was held since February. The government was supposed to publish a book compiling the recommendations of the commission but did not do that.

"Now the office is almost closed.

"Under the circumstances, it is impossible to carry out the commission's activities," Khan said.

The former top bureaucrat laid before the government three alternatives.

"Either the government will have to extend all out cooperation to revive the commission or it will have to be reformed or it will have to be shut down forever."

"If the government does not take any step within 10 to 15 days, then I'll take a final decision following discussion with the commission's members.

Asked if the "final decision" was going to be resignation, Khan said he got no other way left.

"What's the point if I cannot work? I can resign my position right now, but that's not a solution. I want the RRC to continue its activities. I won't mind if a new chairman takes up."

Citing the government's pledge to establish a 'Digital Bangladesh' by 2021, Khan said a functional RRC was essential as it was impossible to pursue the pledge with older laws and regulations.

The commission's chief said it had placed 153 pledges to the government so far, of which 46 or 34 percent were fully implemented. Nine, seven percent, were partially implemented, and 52 or 38 percent are under implementation.

Some 20 or 15 percent recommendations are under consideration and rest eight, six percent have hit a snag.

Khan said the commission on its own has published a 131-page book titled 'Regulatory Reform Commission 1st Report, February 2009' compiling these recommendations and their implementation.

bdnews24.com/arh/bd/1611h.