A K M Abdul Awal Mazumder
A K M Abdul Awal Mazumder () is a teacher, veteran civil servant, prolific writer and spokesman of good governance. A retired secretary to the Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh, he is widely known as a man of highest integrity and an advocate of ethical practice, moral education and moral philosophy. He is a Hubert Humphrey Fellow and an honorary citizen of Dallas of Texas of the United States. He had been an intern of the United Nations headquarter during his Humphrey year. He was CEO of four large organizations and had been secretary to the Government for long seven years. He had been Deputy Commissioner and District Magistrate. He also worked in different important dignified positions in the field level and as well as in the policy level of the Government of Bangladesh. He is a writer, researcher, teacher and trainer.
Early life
He was born on 1 March 1957 at the village of Basonda in Nangalkot Upazila of Comilla district of present-day Bangladesh. His father's name was Moulobi Sayedur Rahman, mother's name was Saira Begum. His father passed Dawara in 1924 from Deoband Islamic Madrasa (now university) in India. His father was the first educated person of the village of Basonda. Mazumder's mother was a self-educated person. Mazumder is the youngest among 11 brothers and sisters, although two sisters - Mariom and Aklima and one brother died before his birth. He was born at 7:00 pm and his immediate elder brother Ruhul Amin died at 12:00 pm on the same day. At that time Ruhul Amin was only four years old. His eldest brother Mohammed Ibrahim, senior to him by 27 years, is currently 88 years old.
Education
Mazumder's pre-primary education began at home, with his father as his first teacher and mentor. He was admitted to the Montali Primary School in 1963. He passed the Secondary School Certificate (SSC) examination from Batisa High School of Chouddagram thana of Comilla district in 1973 and passed the Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) examination from Comilla Victoria Government College in 1975. He obtained his undergraduate BSS (Honors) degree in Political Science from the University of Dhaka in 1979 (held in 1980) and passed MSS on the same subject in 1980 (held in 1982). In order of merit, he obtained the 4th place in BSS Honors and stood 1st class second in MSS. He successfully completed a graduate diploma from Johns Hopkins University, in the United States under the Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship Program in 1993-94. He underwent advanced training programs at Cambridge University and the University of London in the UK and at Indiana University in the USA.
Family life
He got married to Dr. Nilufar Yasmin on April 24 in 1987. Dr. Yasmin is currently serving as a consultant of gynecology at Maternity and Child Health Training Institute in Azimpur, Dhaka. The couple has two daughters - Dr. Mayeesha Nawar and Monisha Sadia Nawar. Ms. Monisha is currently a student of medical science at Dhaka Medical College, the most prestigious medical college of the soil. Monisha's maternal grandfather, Dr. Nazrul Islam was a student of 4th batch of this medical college in 1949. Her 1st cousin Dr. Mahbub Alam Mazumder was also a student of 44th batch in the same college.
Participation in the liberation war
Mazumder took part in the liberation war of Bangladesh at the age of 14 in 1971. He was a regular member of the Bangladesh Liberation Front (Force) or Mujib Bahini. He got arms training at Rajnagar BLF camp under Belonia subdivision of Tripura state of India. He was also an activist of the 1969 Movement and the historical General Election of 1970. He led a delegation to the Chairman of the Raykot Union Parishad to ask the Chairman to resign from his post and sever relations with the Pakistani government and join the Bangalee nationalist movement. His brother Abu Taher Mazumder was also a veteran freedom fighter . His first cousin Mohammad Ali was martyred in the Liberation War. Mazumder's father Moloubi Sayedur Rahman was a bonafide supporter of the liberation war of Bangladesh and his father in law Dr. Nazrul Islam was also a freedom fighter. Dr. Islam was a member of the medical contingent of the liberation force.
Career
Mr. Mazumder served with distinction in various roles throughout his professional career. He started his professional life in 1983 as a lecturer in Political Science at the University of Rajshahi. He left his job at the university on October 27 of the same year and joined the Bangladesh Civil Service as a member of a regular batch of the Administration cadre.His initial rank was “Assistant Commissioner and Magistrate”. He was gradually promoted to the highest rank (Secretary to the Government) of the civil service. He had been the secretary to the Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh for almost 7 (seven) years. During his 33 years of government service, he held various important positions, such as, Deputy Commissioner and District Magistrate of Faridpur District, Director General / CEO of Bangladesh Rural Development Board (BRDB), Chairman / CEO, Land Reforms Board (LRB), Director General/CEO of National Academy of Planning and Development (NAPD) and Rector / CEO, Bangladesh Public Administration Training Center (BPATC). He held the second highest bureaucratic post of Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Food and Disaster Management and Ministry of Agriculture. He was the Secretary in the Ministry of Science and ICT and in the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education (MOPME).
Foreign training and travel
He visited 38 countries, including America,United Kingdom,Denmark,Sweden,Switzerland,France,South Korea,Indonesia,Malaysia,Sri Lanka,Thailand,India,Iran,Netherlands,Belgium,Senegal, Russia, England, Australia, China, Germany, Spain, Tunisia, Morocco, Mali, Egypt, and Japan. He underwent advanced training courses at Cambridge University and London University in the United Kingdom and University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and Indiana University in the United States. He was the leader of the Bangladesh state delegations to the general assembly meeting of Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) held in Tunis, Tunisia in 2008 and to the general assembly meeting of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) held in Vienna, Austria in 2009. He also led the Bangladesh delegations to some others international forums.
Recognition and honor
He is a Hubert Humphrey Fellow and honorary citizen of Dallas of Texas state of the United States.
Writing and research
AKM Abdul Awal Majumder is a prolific writer and an avid researcher. He wrote 12 books on public policy, history, politics, good governance, moral education and memoirs. His best sellers are Shishuder Chatro APJ Abdul Kalam, Bangladesh Civil Servicer Itihas, Medavittic Civil Service and Americar Itihas o Rajnity.
List of published books
1. The history of Bangladesh Civil Service (বাংলাদেশের সিভিল সার্ভিসের ইতিহাস) 2. The roots, saplings and lands (শেকড় লতাপাতা ও ঠিকানা) 3. The Judiciary of Bangladesh and trial of lower courts (বাংলাদেশের বিচার ব্যবস্থা এবং নিম্ন আদালতের বিচার) 4. Corruption, good policy and good governance (দুর্নীতি, সুনীতি, সুশাসন) 5. The History and Politics of America ( আমেরিকার ইতিহাস ও রাজনীতি) 6. Life Sketch of APJ Abdul Kalam (শিশুদের ছাত্র এপিজে আব্দুল কালাম) 7. Rights and Recognition of girl children and women (অপুত্রক মুন্সী তোফায়েল আলী মজুমদারের পুত্রগণ) 8. Life Sketch of Jimmy Carter (শান্তি ও মানবতার দূত জিমি কার্টার) 9. Some history and some memories (কিছু স্মৃতি কিছু ইতিহাস) 10. Good governance (সুশাসন) 11. You can also be the best (আপনিও হতে পারেন সেরার সেরা) 12. Meritocracy (মেধাভিত্তিক সিভিল সার্ভিস)
Other Activities and Achievements
Mr. Mazumder served as Assistant Returning Officer in the National Elections of 1991 and 1996, and as Returning Officer in the National Elections of 2001. He vested all efforts to facilitate free, fair and acceptable elections and succeeded on all three occasions. As the Upazila Magistrate and Additional District Magistrate, he disposed thousands of cases that had been kept pending for a long period. His remarkable efforts in clearing the case backlog while ensuring justice were recognized by formal letters of appreciation from the Divisional Commissioner of Dhaka, Ahmed Mahmudur Raja Chowdhury. Mr. Mazumder also received letters of appreciation multiple times from District Commissioner M. Shafiul Alam, under whom he served at district administrations of Kishoreganj and Mymensingh. Mr. Mazumder was the National Vice-President of Bangladesh Scout, Senate Member of Dhaka University and Jahangirnagar University, syndicate member of Dhaka University of Engineering and Technology (DUET), Rajshahi University of Engineering and Technology (RUET), Chittagong University of Engineering and Technology (CUET), Khulna University of Engineering and Technology (KUET) and Mawlana Bhashani Science and Technology University, Tangail. He was the chairman of the Governing Board of Bangladesh National Institute of Bio-technology (NIB), Bangladesh Science Museum, Bongobandhu Novo Theatre and National Academy of Primary Education (NAPE). Currently he is the Vice-Chairman of bangladesh Trainers Development Society (BSTD). Mr. Mazumder was elected the General Secretary of the Student's Union of Mantali Junior High School in 1969 at the age of 12.