Secretary gets back to ministry on ADB pressure
Staff Correspondent
The government yesterday appeared to bow to pressure from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) by reinstating AKM Shamsuddin as the secretary to the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education, sources said.Assuming power, the caretaker government transferred Shamsuddin to the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs as secretary and made Abdul Haq the acting secretary of the primary and mass education ministry. Hua Du, country director of ADB in Bangladesh, met Finance and Planning Adviser M Akbar Ali Khan on Monday and expressed concern about the transfer of Shamsuddin as $1.8 billion worth of projects for the development of primary education financed by a total of 11 donors, including ADB, might be in jeopardy if the secretary to the primary and mass education ministry is replaced by the government, sources said. The ADB country director even threatened to suspend funds if AKM Shamsuddin was not reinstated, finance ministry sources said. Akbar Ali Khan met Chief Adviser and President Iajuddin Ahmed on Monday night and requested him to reinstate AKM Shamsuddin, sources added.
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