The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) government formally assumed office on 17 February. On the same day, the interim government led by professor Muhammad Yunus stepped down. The online operations of the current government’s prime minister’s office are now managed through the website pmo.gov.bd.
During the interim government, the chief adviser’s office maintained a website at cao.gov.bd. That address is no longer accessible separately. It appears to have been merged into the prime minister’s office website. Along with this change, several documents published during the interim government period have also disappeared.
When contacted for comment, additional press secretary of the prime minister, Atikur Rahman Rumon, told Prothom Alo that removing the website of the government chief after a change in administration is a routine procedure.
Stating that the interim government had also removed the previous government chief’s website after assuming office, he said the same process has occurred this time.
The disappearance of documents following the website change has been noted on social media by UK-based journalist and columnist David Bergman. He told Prothom Alo that important government documents should be preserved and made easily accessible to all.
During the interim government, the chief adviser’s office maintained a website at cao.gov.bd. That address is no longer accessible separately. It appears to have been merged into the prime minister’s office website. Along with this change, several documents published during the interim government period have disappeared.
Atikur Rahman clarified that documents, speeches, and other government records published on the website are archived. They can be obtained by following proper procedures.
The same happened during interim government
Following the July uprising that toppled the Awami League government; the interim government led by professor Muhammad Yunus assumed office on 8 August 2024. At that time, the prime minister’s office website was replaced with the chief adviser’s office site.
In April of last year, the cabinet division issued a directive to remove unnecessary and commendatory information, photos, and videos from the websites of various ministries, departments, directorates, offices, districts, upazilas, and unions under the national portal.
These documents are not only for the people; easy accessibility is also essential for the government itself. The new government should take the initiative to restore the chief adviser’s office website and the materials contained on it.David Bergman, Journalist
At that time, annual reports of several ministries published during the Awami League government were also removed and were never re-uploaded.
As of last Tuesday, visiting the websites of the foreign ministry, finance ministry (finance division), road transport and highways division, bridge division, ministry of labour and employment, ministry of textiles and jute, and ministry of women and children affairs revealed that no annual reports from the previous Awami League government could be found.
However, annual reports from the ministry of commerce, ministry of land, ministry of agriculture, and ministry of Chittagong Hill Tracts were available.
Speaking to Prothom Alo on condition of anonymity, a system analyst from one ministry said that the reports are no longer accessible as they were not archived.
Keeping them ‘essential’
Officials noted that when a website is removed, it becomes difficult for citizens, researchers, and journalists to directly access previous government decisions, speeches, and announcements. Access via application-based procedures can be time-consuming. David Bergman recently expressed concern about this on social media.
He told Prothom Alo, “The former chief adviser’s website was a repository of important government information. It contained speeches, policy announcements, and reform commission reports from professor Yunus. These documents were easily accessible online to journalists, researchers, and common people with just a few clicks. Now, locating this information online has become much more difficult.”
David Bergman expressed hope that the new government will recognise the importance of keeping these documents easily accessible.
“These documents are not only for the people; easy accessibility is also essential for the government itself. The new government should take the initiative to restore the chief adviser’s office website and the materials contained on it,” he said.
Facebook page exists
During the interim government, an official Facebook page called “Chief Adviser GOB” was also maintained. It disseminated information about the chief adviser and various activities and announcements of the interim government. The page was primarily managed by the press wing of the chief adviser.
After the interim government’s departure, the page announced last week that it would no longer remain active. A subsequent post stated that although operations had ceased, the page would remain accessible as a repository of documents from that historic period.