Bangladesh’s energy sector is no longer serving the public interest but has instead fallen under the control of a politically connected elite, warned Prof. M Shamsul Alam, Energy Advisor to the Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB).
Speaking at a policy dialogue organised by CAB at the CIRDAP auditorium on Monday, Prof. Alam delivered a scathing critique of the sector’s governance, calling for urgent political reforms to restore accountability and protect citizens’ constitutional rights over national resources.
“The energy sector has effectively been taken hostage by a politically connected elite. This shift has undermined the people’s constitutional ownership of fossil fuel resources,” he said.
Prof. Alam stressed that energy is a basic human right and a critical driver of national development, essential for agriculture, industry, housing, education, and healthcare. Despite constitutional guarantees, he argued, energy policy and management have been “co-opted by a narrow circle of powerful interests.”
CAB’s Rights-Based Energy Transition Policy
In his keynote presentation, Prof. Alam introduced CAB’s proposed “Bangladesh Energy Transition Policy 2024”, a rights-based framework that recognizes energy as a human right and outlines a pathway toward a just and sustainable transition.
“Our energy crisis is not just technical or economic—it is rooted in social injustice, governance failures, and systemic corruption,” he said. Rising energy prices, subsidy misallocation, and extractive spending patterns, he argued, reflect elite capture of the sector, while ordinary citizens suffer from shortages, price hikes, and declining service reliability.
Call for Political Commitment Ahead of Elections
Prof. Alam urged all political parties to incorporate CAB’s proposed policy in their upcoming election manifestos and commit to a corruption-free energy sector.
“Real transformation cannot happen without political reform. We call on political parties to prioritize energy justice, transparency, and accountability in their agendas,” he said.
Broad Political Participation
The dialogue brought together leaders from across the political spectrum, including Prof. Dr. Maudud Hossain Pavel (BNP), Dr. Md. Helal Uddin (Jamaat-e-Islami), Barrister Asaduzzaman Fuad (AB Party), Engr. Ashraful Alam (Islami Andolon), Ruhin Hossain Prince (Communist Party of Bangladesh), Bazlur Rashid Firoz (BASAD), Rashed Khan (Gonodhikar Parishad), Farhad Alam Bhuiyan (NCP), and Manzur Kader (Nagorik Oikya).
Participants expressed varying degrees of support for CAB’s proposals, while stressing the need for cross-party consensus to tackle the sector’s deep-rooted problems.
Youth Voices Push for Renewable Future
Earlier in the program, students from Dhaka University, Rajshahi University, and Khulna University of Engineering and Technology (KUET) shared their perspectives on renewable energy, pricing, and consumer rights. They emphasized the need for a long-term, sustainable energy strategy centered on transparency, affordability, and environmental responsibility.