The New Nation - Internet Edition

AS appeared in the media recently, only 4 out of 31 recommendations so far made by the Regulatory Reform Commission in last eight months were implemented, rerunning the history of scores of such proposals going unheeded in the past. Two other recommendations were partially executed, while 'little or no progress' has been made on the remaining 25 as the media quoted commission sources to have admitted. The implemented touched upon the peripheral details, leaving 'the bureaucracy as cumbersome and time-consuming as in the past', reveals an analysis of the commission's progress report.

The commission, set up on October 30, 2007 to suggest ways to ease the regulatory regime blamed for hindering the private sector growth, made its recommendations in phases up to April 22 this year. And that's all, as if it confined its activities usually in making recommendations only, and not keeping watch on their timely implementation for which the commission was formed. The first set of recommendations, dealing with people's access to government rules, came after the commission's first meeting held in November last and the second meeting held in January this year recommended online registration with Board of Investment (BoI), uniform fees or charge for registration of investment projects and reforms in BoI to make it dynamic.

The commission proposed that as the Bangladesh Bank should alone take decision regarding foreign private loans and that any proposal for such loans can be sent through any schedule bank besides suggesting amendments to the Post Office Act of 1898 and change the process of land registration. Since the independence in 1971, almost all the governments formed administrative reform commissions, which later came up with dozens of proposals. The last one submitted its recommendations at the fag end of the Awami League regime (1996-2001). But few of their recommendations were implemented.