Hon'ble State Minister for Foreign Affairs,

Foreign Secretary,

Secretaries,

Dignitaries and

Dear colleagues,

Assalamualaikum and a very good afternoon.

As we are celebrating the 'Mujib Year' this year  to mark the birth centenary of the Father of the Nation, the man who is Synonymous to Bangladesh, we are indeed, at the crossroads of history, moving steadily under the able leadership of Hon'ble  Prime  Minister  Sheikh  Hasina,  towards  achieving  the  true  vision  of  our struggle  for  independence,  economic  emancipation  of  the  common  people.  The idea   of   Bangladesh   centresaroundBangabandhu   Sheikh   Mujibur   Rahman's struggle for the people and his vision to make 'Sonar Bangla' for his people whom he loved the most.   People were at the centre of his entire life and work. His aim was to create a pool of civil servants who will be 'khadems’ of the people.

In line with his vision, Article 21 (b) of the Constitution of Bangladesh, lays down  the  duties  of  the  Civil  Servants  as  "  Every  Person  in  the  service  of  the Republic has a duty to strive at all times to serve the People”. To materialize this vision  of  the  Father  of  the  Nation,  public  service  needs  to  be  administered  and strengthened  to  cater the evolving needs of  the  Republic  and its  People.   Proper management  of  the  human  resources  is  of  utmost  significance  in  making  a  civil service people oriented.

Hon'ble Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's vision for a 'Digital Bangladesh' has appeared to be at the forefront of Bangladesh's strive for development. Using the gifts  of  science  and  technology  to  provide  better  and  faster  service  is  the  core component  of  digitalization.  Bangladesh’s success in digitalization has received accolades from the people and global recognition. The digitalization process truly conjoins Bangabandhu's vision and the Hon'ble Prime Minister's goals in providing better service to the people.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs has taken a number of steps in digitalizing its services.  Among  these  efforts,  'Dutabas'  app  is  one  of  the  most  remarkable achievements. Implementation of iBAS++ in financial management of the Ministry and Bangladesh Missions abroad is also going on.  Implementation of E-nothi or electronic filing system has is underway. To add even more, this afternoon, I feel honored and  privileged  to  be  here  with  you  all,  in  launching  MANOS,  the  Human Resources Management Software (HRMS) of the Ministry.

Ministry  of  Foreign  Affairs  is  launching  this  as  one  of  the  earliest  of  the Ministries,   in   developing   Human   Resources   Management   Software,   called MANOS, which is short for  মানবসম্পদ. The beta version of MANOS is ready to be released.  As  I  understand,  the  final  version  of  the  software  will  be  ready  by June.  When fully functional, MANOS will provide the Government with all necessary  data  of  the  human  resources  in  the  Headquarters  and  the  Missions. Physical distance of our colleagues working in furthest capitals will be overcome and their data will be at a click away.

Using  this  digital  tool,  decisions  on  the  officials'  postings,  training,  leave, promotion and even pension will be easier. Decision making process of personnel management will be smoother and faster than ever.  I firmly believe, today’s enthusiastic ambiance will spread to all our colleagues working in the Ministry and the Missions abroad. I congratulate and commend everyone, who have worked tirelessly to make the initiative a reality. With this positive note, I officially announce, the launching of MANOS as a tribute to the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's memory. I believe, this launching will add colours to our Celebration ofthe 'Mujib Year-2020'.

It is very heartening to observe that the Foreign Ministry, as the pioneer organization, has taken another landmark initiative to stop usage of single-use plastic bottles.One-time-use plastic bottles considerably degrade environmental balance. Nonetheless, the usage of such bottles is increasing sporadically. These bottles when dumped after single-usage do not decompose completely even after hundreds of years; rather impedes the general ecological balance. This initiative is in sync with the environment policy formulated government in 2018 encouraging the usage and production of environment-friendly products.

I believe this tiny-first step will contribute immensely towards saving our environment in the coming days. We need to work proactively to reap the benefits of this venture.  

Additional Information for the Suitable Use of the Hon'ble Foreign Minister

Features of MANOS:

•A  digital  tool  to  analyse  our  allocation  of  human  resources  across  our Missions worldwide and within the eadquarter

•   A tool to generate several reports instantaneously, that would have otherwise taken days to compile manually

•   Online  database  of  the  personal  information  of  all  the  officers,  with  the provision of updating the information from anywhere in the world

•Online professional/job-related records of all the officers

•A timeline of the whole service life of each officer

•An online repository for the job-related documents

•Records of job-related training at home and abroad for each officer

•Records of official travels for each officer

•Records of leave and lien of all the officers

•Records of the different kinds of publications/write-ups by the officers

•A digital portal to check the status of ACRs from anywhere in the world

•Records of disciplinary actions that were taken against any officer

•  Overall,  the  Ministry  of  Foreign  Affairs  would  have  done  its  part  in  the materialization of Vision-2021