Secretariat or Ministeriat?

The location of the government has continued to be in the secretariat (shachibaloy) since the colonial days. In Kolkata, it was sometimes referred to as Writers' Building and in Dhaka, as the Eden Buildings. But formally the secretariat remains to be the seat of the government to this day, despite the political process through several decades has yielded governments having cabinet Ministers. And devolving the governance and the governmental functions in the Ministries. And here comes the paradox -- in Ministries being located in the Secretariat and Ministers attending their offices located in the Secretariat! Secretariat by definition means the place where Secretaries attend to their official duties and functions. This was the set-up, and quite tenable apparently, in the colonial days. Basically at the time, the imperial powers were exercised through the Crown-appointed Governors-General, Governors and Secretaries, all Englishmen, and the latter were invariably the members of the British Indian Colonial/Civil Service.

In the sovereign government, the elected Ministers (mostly) are in charge of the Ministries and logically, they should be housed for official work, in the Ministerial (in coining this highly feasible word, we could well contribute to the English language). The Secretaries and the rest of the bureaucratic apparatus are to function in the Bangladesh Ministeriat, establishing logic and reason in reflecting the appropriate importance of the elected representatives in leading the country's affairs.

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The popular argument that Ministers come and go is not only fallacious but also highly derogatory. The same status of non-permanence of Secretaries and officials at all other levels in relation to a particular Ministry or position is equally valid. The Ministers serve in Ministries and leave as the Prime Minister desires as per the provisions of the Constitution.

Hence, it is time that such a glaring anomaly is removed. The Ministeriat should be what the Secretariat has been so far and in fact, it would enhance the status palpably. In Bangla, an ideal word, if I may suggest, will be 'Sharkaraloy' a' la mantranaloy, shachibaloy! Moreover, one could also propose that for an effective public imaging of the government in symbolic form like the White Hall, White House and so on, we could search for our unique name for the seat of governmental apparatus. As for the centre of power, the appellation 'Prime Minister's Office (PMO),' both the Bangla and English versions, how shall I put it, is un-inspiring and mundane. PMO and Ministeriat complex could be painted in green (the shade we have in our National Flag) and named "the Green Mansion" (In Bangla one could think of "Shabuj Bhaban" or other fitting names 'Bangla Bhaban' or 'Shapla Bhaban)'. Shabuj Baban has the added advantage of being environment-friendly.

One ought to emphasize that everything is in the name, or almost so. What could be boldly introduced now, taking public opinion into serious consideration, in terms of symbol of the nation's aspirations, will strike deep roots in popular acceptability and consciousness in the fullness of time.

Syed Muhammad Hussain is a retired Ambassador and Secretary to the government.