বাংলাদেশের স্বাধীনতা যুদ্ধ দলিলপত্রঃ তৃতীয় পত্র
The Ministry or Department of the Government represents the largest sub-division or cross-section of its administrative structure, designed for the satisfactory and efficient discharge of its functions and responsibilities. The business of every well-organized government is transacted through different Ministries or Departments which are responsible for particular subjects or groups of subjects.
Besides the various Ministries or Departments, the activities of the Government of Bangladesh will also be conducted through the various Attached and Subordinate Offices. The Attached Offices will be responsible for providing technical advice required in the formulation of policies by the Ministries or Departments. They will also provide executive direction required in the implementation of policies laid down by the Ministry to which they will be attached. The Subordinate Offices function more or less as field establishments responsible for the detailed executions of the decision of Government. They generally function under the direction of an Attached Office, or in cases where the Volume of executive direction involved is not considerable, directly under a Ministry.
Organisation of a Ministry
The administrative set-up of the Government of Bangladesh will be divided into Ministries amongst which the various subjects of governmental activity are distributed on the basis of certain criteria which will be discussed later on. A Ministry ordinarily will consist of two or more departments and a Minister is in charge of all of them. In certain cases, two or more Ministries are placed under the charge of one and the same Minister. A Ministry or a Department is an organizational Unit consisting of a Secretary to the Government with a part of the Secretariat under his administrative control. Usually, a Secretary to the Government of Bangladesh will be the official and administrative head of the Ministry. A Secretary has four-fold functions: (a) he is the principal adviser of the Minister in all matters of policy and administration; (b) he is responsible for the efficient and economic administration of his Ministry and the attached offices and other organizations which it controls; and c) he represents the Ministry before the Parliamentary Committee on public Accounts to give an account of its financial administration, and (d) finally, as the Chief Accounting Officer, he also has the ultimate responsibility for all departmental expenditure.
When the volume of work in a Ministry exceeds the manageable charge of a Secretary, one or more wings are established with a joint Secretary or in some cases, an Additional Secretary in charge of each wing. In such cases, the Joint Secretary or the Additional Secretary is vested with the maximum measure of independent functioning and responsibility subject to the control of the Secretary on the whole.
For the efficient and expeditious disposal of business allotted to it, the Ministry is divided into divisions, branches, and sections. A division consisting of two branches is normally under the charge of a Deputy Secretary. A branch comprising two sections is under the charge of an Under Secretary. A Section, under the charge of a Section Officer, consists of a certain number of clerical staff that is assistants, upper division and lower division clcarks, typists, diarists etc. In certain matters, Deputy or Under Secretaries may transact business direct with the Minister, but proposals involving important policy decisions are always routed through the Joint Secretary or the Secretary or both.
