Abdul Muyeed Chowdhury details his involvement with the Bangladeshi civil service, providing insight on civil service reform within the country. In particular, he describes his role in government attempts to restructure administrative agencies through the creation of review committees. Chowdhury talks about how he became chairman of one such committee, called the Muyeed Committee, which sought to assess departments within the government and produce recommendations for reform. He also elaborates upon his roles in the 1993 Nurunnabi Committee and the 2007 Regulatory Reform Commission. Outlining the importance of land in Bangladesh, Chowdhury talks of the problems created in the country by an archaic land management system and describes his frequent attempts to institute modernization in land administration. He is quick to note, moreover, that regardless of how eager governments may be to set up review commissions at the start of their tenure, they often fail to implement reform recommendations. Indeed, electoral politics and party rivalries often prevent committee reports from being fully carried out. Chowdhury further describes the way civil servants are impacted by the tussles between rival parties as different government administrations succeed each other. This leads to a broader discussion of the major challenges facing the civil service and the need for effective reform. Chowdhury concludes with anecdotes from his time as a Fulbright scholar in America, sharing stories from his life that, in his opinion, serve to exemplify the changes needed in the civil service of Bangladesh.    

Case Study:  Energizing the Civil Service: Managing at the Top 2, Bangladesh, 2006-2011