Officials 'hesitate to respond' as govt gathers duty records from elections under Hasina 

The government has begun collecting written information on the responsibilities held by officials and employees in previous elections held under the Hasina regime. Following a format set by the Election Commission, various ministries and divisions are gathering these details from their officers and staff, officials at the Secretariat confirmed.

According to sources, officials who held key roles in the three national elections conducted under the Awami League government — 2014, 2018, and 2024 — have been decided by the government not to be assigned duties in the upcoming election. 

This directive has prompted the current data collection, though most officials reportedly feel uncomfortable providing the information.

The Election Commission's form requests whether an official served in previous elections, the duties they performed, the year and location of service, their grade, pay scale, and permanent and current addresses. 

While no officials were willing to speak on record, a labour ministry official, on condition of anonymity, noted that while officers are not filling in all fields, those who served in the last three elections are completing the section on "experience in election duty." Many are still leaving certain fields blank for various reasons.

A Local Government Division official confirmed that after collecting information on officials' participation in the last three elections, the data is to be forwarded to the Election Commission. Similarly, officials from the Ministries of Energy, Housing and Public Works, and Textiles and Jute have reported discomfort in providing the information. Other ministries and divisions are also completing election duty records.

Earlier, the Law and Order Advisory Council Committee decided that officials who served in the 2014, 2018, and 2024 elections would be entirely barred from participating in the 13th parliamentary election. 

The committee later softened this stance, recognising the logistical challenge of staffing 45,000 polling centers nationwide for 300 constituencies, which requires around 14 lakh personnel in a single day. 

Excluding all previously serving officials would create a severe manpower shortage.

In its meeting on 8 August, the committee decided that those who served in the last three elections should "as far as possible" refrain from duties in the upcoming vote. Whether officials who held key responsibilities in previous elections will be assigned roles in the next national parliamentary election is now left entirely to the Election Commission. 

Following this, the Commission issued letters requesting officials to submit their information in the prescribed format.