Prime Minister’s Adviser on Public Administration (with the status of a minister), Md. Ismail Zabiullah, has directed officials to avoid bureaucratic delays and ensure the swift implementation of the government’s election manifesto through effective coordination and inter-agency cooperation.

He issued the directive while addressing a review meeting on Thursday at the Ministry of Public Administration in the Bangladesh Secretariat, which assessed the progress of the 180-day action plan formulated to implement the government’s election manifesto. State Minister for Public Administration Md. Abdul Bari, MP, was also present at the meeting.

The adviser said the ministry is working to establish a merit-based public administration, recruit 500,000 government employees through a transparent and efficient process, and build an accountable and citizen-friendly administrative system in line with the government’s election commitments.

He also announced that the ministry has taken the initiative to process pension applications and administrative approvals for government officials entirely online. As part of a pilot project, the online administrative approval of the pension of a retired additional secretary from the Ministry of Public Administration has been completed, marking the formal launch of the initiative.

Md. Ismail Zabiullah further said that instructions have been issued to introduce artificial intelligence (AI) in the Government Employee Management System (GEMS) for online transfer and posting of government officials. The move is expected to make administrative processes more transparent, efficient, and faster.

He also instructed officials to expedite recruitment activities to achieve the 100 percent target of filling vacant government posts under the government’s 180-day action plan.

The meeting was chaired by Senior Secretary of the Ministry of Public Administration Md. Ehsanul Haque. Heads of departments and agencies under the ministry, senior ministry officials, and divisional commissioners participated in the meeting, with the commissioners joining virtually.