Lobbyists thrive inside Secretariat as passes are traded
Graphics: Agamir Somoy
Governments come and go, but the lobbyists remain. Only their identities change - sometimes political activists, sometimes journalists or relatives of the influential. Although the Secretariat, the heart of the administration, is a restricted state zone, they face no hurdles entering.
This is because entry passes are available for a price, allowing their various activities to proceed uninterrupted. Lobbying has become a “permanent culture” from the central government down to the field level. By entering the Secretariat for as little as Tk 500, they engage in lobbying worth millions.
Investigations revealed that anyone, including lobbyists, can enter any ministry. Some Secretariat employees and police members are directly involved in this “pass-trade.” There have even been instances of public physical altercations over the sharing of lobbying money.
These brokers deal in various matters, including recruitment, transfers, promotions, settlement of departmental cases, and the processing of tender bills.
Ministries of Education, Home Affairs, Land, Public Administration, Health, Local Government, Law, Communications, and Housing and Public Works are facing the highest pressure. From ministers and secretaries to key officials, the pressure of lobbying starts as early as 10 am. Lobbying based on political party identity is more prevalent than that of citizens.
These individuals identify themselves as the minister’s person, an MP, a party leader, or a relative of an MP. Beyond standard requests, bureaucrats find themselves in a bind due to pressure from influential circles.
Ministries struggle to manage the various lobbying efforts regarding the posting of preferred officials. Lobbying is most intense for postings to important offices, including positions for DCs, UNOs, and deputation posts.
Many officials are vigorously lobbying through their own channels to secure lucrative postings.
On Tuesday, Ali Haidar, an office assistant for Local Government Division’s Additional Secretary Md Moniruzzaman accepted Tk 1,000 and used his own ID card to grant Secretariat entry to two individuals named GM Sumon and Zakir Hossain.
Inside the Secretariat, the two intruders got into a fight with a lobbyist posing as a journalist, Mohammad Ali Abir, over the distribution of lobbying money. When law enforcement agencies detained them, the intruders revealed the name of the office assistant and said they frequently enter the Secretariat in exchange for money.
As the matter was proven, a mobile court was convened, sentencing Ali Haidar to one month of imprisonment. Moreover, the two intruders were fined Tk 1,000 each. Following this, Abir identified himself as a senior reporter for two newspapers.
However, he could not produce an accreditation card. He informed the police that his pass was issued by the office of the finance minister’s PS. Since he possessed a valid pass, Abir was handed over to the security branch of the Ministry of Home Affairs, where he was later released after providing a written undertaking.
Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of Secretariat security Mahmudul Kabir confirmed the matter.
Earlier, the Press Information Department (PID) had canceled Abir’s accreditation card after his lobbying activities were proven. Since then, he has continued to enter the Secretariat almost daily with the help of various officials and employees to carry out different types of lobbying.
Abir spoke with a representative of a multinational company at the Ministry of Commerce. The representative said they regularly enter the Secretariat using a pass obtained through a police officer.
He added that a fee of Tk 500-600 must be paid each time to enter. To verify the truth of the matter, the police officer’s phone number was collected from him. Later, Abir, concealing their identity, requested the police officer to arrange entry into the Ministry of Housing and Public Works.
The police officer agreed to the request. When the authorities were informed of the matter, he was immediately transferred from the Secretariat.
