ABSTRACT
The sources of information on the problems of accountability indicate that some problems arise out of the secretariat system and work procedures. One of the reasons why officials are not being made accountable for their performance is insufficient training at the post-entry and in-service levels. The responses of a majority of the students and journalists indicate that secrecy is causing problems of accountability. The respondents identified secrecy as one of the characteristic features of Bangladesh public administration. In modern Bangladesh, the growing literature on accountability informs an important part of the debate surrounding corruption. The Annual Confidential Report is the only means by which individual performance and accountability can be secured. A majority of the civil servants interviewed believed that because the political system was unstable, the administrative system was bound to be unaccountable. The military leaders broke the requirement for civil service neutrality by rewarding individuals who had given them necessary political support.
