BD Govt get blamed

People of different social strata expressed mixed reactions to the Awami League-led alliance government’s performance in its first 100 days, completed on Friday.
While most of the people whom New Age approached were critical of the government, some of them observed that it had some achievements to its credit, including arresting the price-hike of essentials, especially of rice.
Most of them expressed frustration at the armed infighting of the AL’s associate student body, the ruling party’s vengeful attitude towards the opposition, politicisation of the administration and deterioration in the law and order situation. Already the rebellion and killings in the Bangladesh Rifles headquarters on February 25 has made the government shaky, some opined.
‘The government has been successful in controlling the prices of essentials, especially rice, but it has utterly failed to fulfil its electoral pledges,’ said Mizanur Rahman, who works for a computer firm.
Abul Hashem, a farmer of Tangail, said the low price of paddy has disappointed the farmers.
‘The Awami League had pledged that it would ensure an education-friendly environment in all the universities and colleges. But it failed to fulfil its pledge because it didn’t control its student wing. The fighting of the various factions of the Bangladesh Chhatra League has led to the closure of a number of educational institutions across the country,’ he said.
Abdul Aziz, a farmer of Kushtia, thanked the government for its success in fertiliser management. ‘The government has successfully ensured smooth supply of fertilisers to the farmers, and that too at affordable prices due to the giving of subsidy.’‘The honeymoon period of this government has been short because of some of its self-created problems. The government on its own invited chaos and controversy, deviating from its election pledges,’ opined a teacher of a high school in the Dhaka University area.

‘Though the government had to face some obstacles like the BDR rebellion at the beginning of its tenure, it has shown some success in controlling prices and handling the BDR issues. It has, however, failed to control its student wing. The Chhatra League’s infighting has blackened the image of this government,’ said playwright Mamunur Rashid.
‘Besides, inexperienced persons in the ministries have not being performing well. Had there been some experienced persons in the ministries, the government could have handled all the problems it faced in a better manner,’ he added.
Referring to the government’s decision to cancel the lease of Khaleda Zia’s Cantonment house, he said, ‘This definitely seems to be vengeful. The government wants to evict Khaleda overnight. It could have done so after creating mass awareness.’
Professor Dilara Chowdhury, teacher of governance and politics in Jahangirnagar University, said, ‘The government has been successful in controlling the price of rice. However, it will have to keep the interest of farmers in mind.’
‘The government has deviated from its election pledges. It had promised that it would establish a strong local government, but with the passage of the Upazila Parishad law and the scrapping of the ordinance promulgated by the interim government, it has made the Upazila Parishad an extension of the central government and subservient to the lawmakers,’ said Dilara.
‘Besides, it failed to deal with the carnage in the Bangladesh Rifles headquarters. It cannot yet tell the nation who were behind the killing of the country’s army officers,’ she said. ‘It had pledged that it would not politicize the administration, but in reality it has politicized all the institutions, ranging from the universities to the administration.’
A government official, posted at the Bangladesh Secretariat, said, ‘The government has controlled the prices of essentials and initiated the trial of war criminals. But it has not taken any effective steps to make the administration dynamic.’
‘The government is yet to take any initiative to generate more power and solve the electricity problem,’ he said.
‘The government has failed to formulate policies to implement its pledge of bringing about a sea-change in the country. It has deviated from its focus. Without any further delay it will have to form a plan to implement the “din bodoler pala” which should be placed before the public so that they can understand the way the government is going ahead,’ said Iqbal Habib, an architect.
Abdul Karim, a shopkeeper at Adabor, sounded a positive note by saying that the government should be thanked for a number of achievements, including arresting the price-hike of the essentials and maintaining law and order, despite a number of severe problems, including the BDR rebellion, that it had to face.