Nazrul Islam :
In this catastrophic time of coronavirus, unexpectedly, we have to receive another piece of depressed news. Former Cabinet Secretary and former chairman of Bangladesh Public Service Commission (PSC) Dr. Saadat Hussain passed away! He breathed his last around 10:30 pm on 22 April. Dr. Saadat had been in the ICU for the last 10 days, undergoing treatment for several complications including kidney disease.
Every human being is bound to taste death, but in this global epidemic when every country is looking for a way out depending on her best scholars, the departure of an intellectual like Dr. Saadat is an irreparable loss. He was not only a bureaucrat, but also the country’s leading intellectual, political thinker, talk-show orator and a heroic freedom fighter. He was one of the best bureaucrats in the history of Bangladesh.
The history of bureaucracy in Bangladesh is very longstanding. The British used to rule the native population through Indian Civil Service (ICS) and most of the officers in ICS were British themselves. It was in the early 20th century that the Indians also started competing against the British and many Indians eventually made it to the ICS. With the partition of India in 1947, the term ‘Central Superior Services’ was used in Pakistan and the concept of All-Pakistan Services continued. After the independence of Bangladesh in 1971, Bangladesh Civil Service (BCS) is formed to gear up the government system of the newly born country.
Since Hossain Toufique Imam joined as the first Cabinet Secretary of the country on 16 July 1971, a total of 22 cabinet secretaries (including present Cabinet Secretary) have worked for the country so far. However, not all of them were equally gained fame for their efficiency, wisdom, impartiality and ethics. Dr. Saadat Hussain is one of the few cabinet secretaries, we can remember for efficiency, wisdom, impartiality and ethics.
Cabinet Secretary is the top post in the government service of our country. Dr. Saadat was the 15th Cabinet Secretary of Bangladesh and served for the tenure of 6 May 2002 to 27 November 2005. During the Caretaker Government of 2007 (popularly known as 1/11 government), he headed the PSC from 2007 to 2011. Prior to his joining, the capacity of PSC Chairman was equated to that of Cabinet Secretary.
Saadat Hussain’s career is grandiose. He joined Civil Service of Pakistan (CSP) in 1969. Before joining his first civil service position as the Sub-Divisional Officer (SDO) in 1972, he received administrative training in the Civil Service Academy, Lahore. He worked in important civil service positions including Director, Civil Officers’ Training Academy; GM, Bangladesh Krishi Bank; Director, General Bangladesh Academy for Rural Development (BARD); Director General, Bangladesh Television and Radio Bangladesh.
He was the Secretary, Ministry of Women and Children Affairs, Secretary of Internal Resources Division and Chairman, National Board of Revenue, Secretary, Primary and Mass Education, Secretary, Ministry of Education, Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs, Director General, BCS (Admin.) Academy, Joint Secretary (Export), Ministry of Commerce and Additional Secretary of Economic Relations Division (ERD), Government of Bangladesh and many more positions. He was the current Chairman of Bangladesh NGO Foundation.
Looking at his career, it seems that he is a true bureaucrat of our country. His educational achievement is also grandiose. He studied economics at Dhaka University. He obtained his Ph.D. Degree in Economics from Boston University, USA, in 1987. His doctoral thesis was on Performance Evaluation of some Public Enterprises (Sugar Mills) in Bangladesh. He produced academic articles and research monographs, many of which were published in professional journals.
Dr. Saadat participated in world conference on Social Development (Copenhagen 95), World Conference on Women (Beijing 95), World Conference on adult education (Hamburg 97) and world education conference (Senegal 2000). He participated in the UN General assembly and UNESCO general Conference, board meetings of such international bodies as ESCAP (Bangkok, Delhi), UNDP (Geneva), UNFPA (Geneva), UNESCO (2001) and special committee meetings of UNCTAD (Geneva), E-9 Countries (Pakistan, Brazil 2000).
Not just in administration, Dr. Saadat Hussain had been actively involved in many socio-organizational activities. He was the Director, governing body of Grameen Bank; Chairman, Bangladesh Cooperative Bank, Director, International Finance and Investment Company (IFIC); Founder-Chairman, Co-operative General Insurance and chairman Ansar-VDP Bank. He was a member, board of governors of Security and Exchange Commission, Bangladesh and Director, Board of Governors of Bangladesh Bank (Info source: Tritiyo Matra).
Dr. Saadat Hussain took part in the television talk-shows regularly and gained a wide reputation. In addition to this, he used to write columns in the leading national dailies. In his spare time, Saadat Hussain used to write books. Some of his notable books are, ‘Muktijuddher Din-Dinanto’, ‘Chera Kothar Ural Fanus’, ‘Nichu Shore Uchun Kotha’, ‘Rukkho Sukkho Hir Mukto’ and ‘Srimitir-Pritir Sojib Pata’. He also published a book of poetry.
He was a freedom fighter. In 1981, while a trainee government official, Saadat Hussain went to India and joined the expatriate Bangladesh government. In his book, ‘Muktijuddher Din-Dinanto’, he expressed how he had worked for the wartime government in exile in India during the 1971 War of Independence from Pakistan. This versatile intellect was born on November 24, 1946 in the Noakhali district.
The patriotism, impartiality and ethics of Saadat Hussain are to be followed. When, off and on, we hear about the misconducts of some civil service officers, it is felt that bureaucrats like Dr. Saadat Hussain is very much needed in the civil service. When we will turn around after the coronavirus era, surely, we will miss this scholar very much. We seek the forgiveness of Allah Almighty for his disembodied soul.
(Nazrul Islam, is an ex Vice-Principal of a collegiate school, columnist and MPhil research fellow in the School of Education at Bangladesh Open University. He can be reached at [email protected])
