The District Relief and Rehabilitation Office in Panchagarh, the northernmost district of the country and known as the ‘daughter of the Himalayas’, has been suffering from a severe manpower crisis for a long time. Emergency service activities are being disrupted due to the lack of manpower in this very important office of the district. The implementation of various development and rehabilitation projects of the government is being hampered due to the lack of supervision at the field level.

According to the concerned sources, the post of District Relief and Rehabilitation Officer (DRO) has been vacant for a long time. Due to the absence of the main officer, it is not possible to properly supervise the project implementation and relief distribution activities of the 5 upazilas of Panchagarh Sadar, Boda, Debiganj, Atwari and Tentulia.

Currently, Assistant Commissioner of the District Administration and Executive Magistrate Mohammad Sohel Rana is handling the additional responsibility (acting) of this important post. As a result, the desired pace of official activities is not coming. According to the district office sources, out of the total seven posts sanctioned here, 4 posts have been completely vacant for a long time.

As important posts like ‘Senior Assistant’ and ‘Office Assistant cum Computer Typist’ of the office are vacant, there has been a stagnation in administrative work. Currently, there is only one ‘wireless operator’ working in this office, who is forced to handle all the official and administrative work of the office alone outside of his work.

In addition, although an office assistant and an official’s driver are working, the post of ‘security guard’ is vacant. This crisis is also evident at the upazila level. In addition to the district office, the posts of ‘Project Implementation Officer’ (PIO) of Debiganj and Panchagarh Sadar upazilas have also been vacant for a long time. Local residents complain that due to manpower shortage, government relief assistance, disaster rehabilitation and various rural infrastructure maintenance programs (TR-Kabita) are not being implemented on time.

The residents of Panchagarh strongly demand that the vacant posts in this office be filled immediately. They have sought the immediate intervention of the higher authorities of the government so that the overall project implementation of the district and government service activities can be reached at the doorsteps of the common people quickly after overcoming the manpower shortage.

When contacted, Panchagarh Deputy Commissioner Mosammat Shukriya Parveen acknowledged the manpower shortage. She said, “The main responsibility for filling the posts lies with the Relief and Disaster Management Department and the concerned ministry. The district administration has already prepared an updated list of the vacant posts and sent it to the ministry. We also sincerely want these posts to be filled quickly to alleviate public suffering.”