BOOK REVIEW : Towards Good Governance in Bangladesh: Fifty Unpleasant Essays by Kamal Siddiqui, Dhaka: University Press Limited. 1996, XV + 179 pp, price Tk. 250.00

This article provides a scholarly review of the book "Towards Good Governance in Bangladesh: Fifty Unpleasant Essays" by the bureaucrat and scholar Kamal Siddiqui. The reviewer summarizes the book's main contribution, which is a collection of short, incisive essays that offer a candid and critical insider's perspective on the deep-seated problems of governance in Bangladesh. The review highlights the key themes addressed in the essays, such as bureaucratic inefficiency, corruption, the politicization of the administration, and the challenges of local governance. The reviewer assesses the strengths of Siddiqui's analysis, particularly its empirical richness, its pragmatic and solution-oriented approach, and its courage in addressing "unpleasant" truths. The review concludes by affirming the book's importance as a valuable resource for policymakers, practitioners, and scholars seeking to understand and address the practical challenges of improving governance in Bangladesh.

This article offers a critical review of Kamal Siddiqui's important collection of essays, "Towards Good Governance in Bangladesh." The review begins by noting the unique value of the book, which stems from the author's position as a long-serving and respected member of the civil service, offering an insider's critique of the system's failings. It summarizes the book's format as a series of fifty short, hard-hitting essays, each tackling a specific problem of governance. The reviewer discusses some of the key themes that run through the collection. These include a powerful critique of the highly centralized and often dysfunctional nature of the Bangladeshi bureaucracy, a frank discussion of the pervasive problem of corruption, and a strong advocacy for meaningful decentralization and the empowerment of local government institutions. The review praises the book for its accessible style and its focus on practical, real-world problems, which sets it apart from more abstract academic treatises. It highlights the "unpleasant" but necessary truths that Siddiqui presents about the need for fundamental administrative and political reform. The review concludes that the book is an indispensable contribution to the debate on governance in Bangladesh, providing a wealth of insights and concrete proposals for reform from a practitioner with a lifetime of experience.