Write-up on History & Evolution of the Greater Noakhali Officers’ Forum (GNOF)

Being born and raised in a particular geographical and social environment creates a natural attraction to that area. People can sacrifice everything and even their lives for this attraction of patriotism. It shows that love for country starts from home. Then its extent spread across the country, we believe that it is a civic duty to know about one’s own home and area and to support the residents in their happiness and sorrow as much as possible. Keeping this spirit in mind, we feel that it is necessary to first establish and strengthen mutual links with the officers of our own district.

Officials of Greater Noakhali District has a glorious tradition. They usually fulfill their duties and responsibilities as idealistic, devoted, sincere, diligent and zealous officers. The officials of this district have always cherished the sense of compassion towards the local people with pride and continue to strive for the development of the area in isolation. But due to the lack of mutual acquaintance and communication of the officials of the district, they are not able to take any joint effort for the development work of the district. This Forum, later on established as GNOF, was created to take collective efforts for the socio- economic development of the area by upholding our noble heritage.

Process of Forming GNOF:

Thinking about how to work to form an Officers’ Forum and then we have taken an initiative to prepare a list for collecting the contacts of first grade officers working in government, semi-government and autonomous institutions of greater Noakhali i.e. Feni, Noakhali & Laxmipur district.

Along with the list preparation activities, we feel the need to form a platform to create a sense of camaraderie and brotherhood through interaction among the officers of the native area. With the aim of forming the platform in the name of Forum, we initially met with Mr. Mansurul Haque, Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Industry on 5th June 1996. Mr. Md. Abdur Rab Bhuiyan, Mohammad Nasir Uddin, Abdul Wadud and Md. Emran were present in the said meeting.

Later on, we discussed this matter with the senior officials of the Greater Noakhali District at the Secretariat and the outside the Secretariat. We had an exclusive Meeting with Mr. ASM Shahjahan the then Secretary of Ministry of Youth and Sports. He encouraged us to form this Forum and assured us of necessary cooperation. On June 20, 1996, we again

met with Mr. ASM Shahjahan and decided to start the activities for the formation of the Forum.

Later we held a few more meetings and a core committee of 7 members was formed under the leadership of Mr. ASM Shahjahan to formalize the forum. In addition to the core committee, an 11-member working team was also formed under the leadership of Mr. Md. Sirajul Islam to manage the activities of the Forum.

Recognition & Launching of GNOF:

The official launch of the Forum began on December 13, 1996 with the first General Meeting held at the BCS Administration Academy under the chairmanship of the then Secretary, Roads and Railways Division Mr. Waliul Islam. In that meeting, the then secretary of the Ministry of Youth and Sports and former IGP Mr. A, S, M Shahjahan, former secretary to the government Mr. Md Faiz Ullah, the then secretary of religion Mr. A, B, M Abdus Sakur and a large number of officials of the government and autonomous institutions of Noakhali were present.

In the meeting, everyone agreed to form an organization named “Greater Noakhali Officers Forum” and formed a 31-Member Executive Committee with Mr. A, S, M, Shahjahan as the president.

In order to provide an institutional structure to the Forum, the following objectives of the forum were determined:

Objectives of Forum:

To create mutual familiarity, friendship, camaraderie, harmony and fraternity among officers of greater Noakhali region working in different professions;
To work towards the overall development of the country in the socio-economic development of the people of greater Noakhali region;
To undertake programs for the development of human resources and employment of the unemployed people of the area;
To provide financial assistance including scholarships to poor and meritorious students of the area;
To establish country-wide contacts and communication among members and local people by organizing discussion meetings, seminars and other social events including publications and mass media;

To provide necessary financial and other assistance on an urgent basis to members of the Forum facing death, accidental disability or any other endangered condition;
To Adopt programs for the protection and welfare of retired officers;
To form and implement any type of trust and foundation for the socio-economic development of the country;
To recognize and honor to the meritorious & noble person from the Greater Noakhali for making their outstanding contribution at local, national and international level in any

Info of President, Secretary General and Founder Member of GNOF:

The sequence wise name of the officers who have acted and been acting as President and Secretary General of the Executive Council of the Greater Noakhali Officers’ Forum (GNOF) since its inception is shown below:

President:

A S M Shahjahan, Founder President, Former Caretaker Government Adviser
Syed Alamgir Farooq Chowdhury, Former Secretary, Ministry of Commerce
Sa’adat Hussain, Former Cabinet Secretary
Mahbubur Rahman, Former secretary
Shahab Ullah, Former Secretary
Mohammad Belayet Hossain Secretary, Bridge Division

Secretary General:

Sirajul Islam, Founder Secretary General, Former Additional Secretary
Ismail Zabiullah, Former Secretary
KM Mozammel Haque, Former Secretary
Emran, Additional Secretary

Founder Member:

ASM Shahjahan, Secretary, Ministry of Youth and
ABM Mansurul Haque, Joint Secretary (Retd.).
Md Sirajul Islam Joint Secretary, Ministry of Health and Family
Abdur Rab Bhuiya Deputy Director, Directorate of Government Accommodation.
Emran, Sr. Assistant Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism.

Mohammad Nasiruddin, Assistant Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism.
Mohammad Abdul Wadud, Senior Assistant Chief, Ministry of Religious
Shaheen Ahmed, Thana Executive Officer, Narayanganj
Muhammad Shaukat Ali, Assistant Director, Adarshaw Gram
MM Fazlul Haque, Assistant Commissioner of Taxation, NBR, Ministry of
AKM Jasim Uddin, Director, Local and Revenue
Mushfiqur Rahman Executive Engineer, Department of Housing and Settlement.
Md Meftahuddin Khan, Deputy Commissioner of Taxes, NBR, Ministry of

[Note: The career position beside the name of the member is shown as per designation given in the General Meeting held on December 13, 1996]

Emotion to Forum:

Our passion and love are inextricably linked with this organization. I have had the opportunity to work with some of the senior officials of the Government of Bangladesh at various times and have learned a lot due to my long tenure as the founding organizing secretary of the forum.

Over time, we have lost many leading and talented officials of the Forum. Among them are A, S, M, Shahjahan, Dr. Saádat Hussain (Former Cabinet Secretary), Md. Ghiyas Uddin (Former Secretary), Dr. Mahbubur Rahman (Former Secretary), Md. Billal Hossain (General Manager Bangladesh Bank), Md. Iqbal Hossain (Joint Registrar, Directorate of Cooperatives). I pray to the Almighty Allah for the forgiveness of all their departed souls. I believe that the Forum will always work with dedication to achieve its desired goals.

Activities of Forum:

Forum initially published a Directory in the name of ‘’UNMES’’ enlisting officers of GNOF. For updating the contract list Forum published several Directory and taking effort to publish a new Directory including new members. Forum used to publish Newsletters and recently published a Souvenir on February 2023.

Forum organizes meeting-seminars, reunion programs with the aim of creating mutual familiarity, friendship, camaraderie, harmony and fraternity among the officials as per the stated objectives since its birth. Apart from that, various social welfare programs were implemented in Noakhali, Feni and Laxmipur districts along with Dhaka. A good example

of Rickshaw Project in different Upazilla was taken for employment & income generation in the local areas under revolving fund mechanism.

Activities of Current Committee:

The forum activities got disruption due to some unavoidable circumstances for last few years and getting The Current Executive Committee of the Forum was formed on December 4, 2020 at the Officers Club, Dhaka. After this committee took over, the activities of the Forum got vibrant and the long-cherished dream of the Forum, a permanent office of its own, was succeeded. With the sole efforts of the current president, the office space was purchased in the old Paltan Zaman Tower with the financial support of Mr. Abu Saeed Chowdhury, the deputy director general of Noakhali’s renowned businessman Abul Khair Group.

The Regional committees of the Forum were formed in Noakhali, Feni and Lakshipur districts as per provision of the constitution of the Forum. All these committees have started their activities as usual.

During the Corona Pandemic, the committee distributed relief materials to Noakhali, Feni and Lakshipur districts on behalf of the forum, felicitated the newly appointed officials of BCS Greater Noakhali and organized an Iftar party.

Worth mentioning that a Grand Reunion and Annual Banquet program was organized at Dalies Ambar, Sirajdikhan, Munshiganj on Feb 11, 2023. It was a successful event with huge gathering of officers including family members in the Program.

Please note that we have prepared a list of Major Activities undertaken since the Establishment of GNOF and the Activities undertaken by the Current Committee for your kind information. The list will be shared in another write-up.

Meanwhile GNOF has gained considerable reputation and recognition as a non-political and social welfare organization. Its journey is endless. We encourage our members to undertake several charitable programs. I strongly believe that our efforts will be continued in the future as well. In the cycle of time, our organization will complete 27 years on 13^th December, 2023. Best wishes to all of my beloved Members.

Written by: Md. Emran, Secretary General of GNOF

Additional Secretary (Ex), Govt. of Bangladesh