Akbar Ali Khan is a Bangladeshi economist

Economist

An economist is a professional in the social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy...

 and educationist who served as a bureaucrat

Bureaucrat

A bureaucrat is a member of a bureaucracy and can comprise the administration of any organization of any size, though the term usually connotes someone within an institution of a government or corporation...

 until 2001. He was the SDO of Habiganj during the Bangladesh Liberation War

Bangladesh Liberation War

The Bangladesh Liberation War was an armed conflict pitting East Pakistan and India against West Pakistan. The war resulted in the secession of East Pakistan, which became the independent nation of Bangladesh....

, when he decided to join the war. Later he served as an official of the Mujibnagar Government. After the independence he joined back the civil serviceand reached to the highest post of Cabinet Secretary and also worked as a university teacher. Towards the end of 2006, he became one of the advisers of the Caretaker Government

Caretaker government of Bangladesh

The Caretaker Government of Bangladesh is a form of government system in which the country is ruled by a selected government for an interim period during transition from one government to another, after the completion tenure of the former. As the outgoing government hands over their power, the...

 for a brief period which was led by President Iajuddin Ahmed

Iajuddin Ahmed

-Early life:Ahmed was born in Bikrampur of Dhaka District, erstwhile Bengal province, British India . As the son of Moulvi Ibrahim Mia, Ahmed obtained his B.Sc. and M.S. at the University of Dhaka in 1952 and 1954 respectively and later received his M.S. and Ph.D...

. He resigned along with three other advisers Sultana Kamal

Sultana Kamal

Sultana Kamal is a Bangladeshi human rights worker and politician. She was an adviser to the interim Caretaker government of Bangladesh under chief adviser and president Iajuddin Ahmed. She along with three other advisers resigned after a series of disagreements which included army deployment in...

, C M Shafi Sami and Hasan Mashhud Chowdhury

Hasan Mashhud Chowdhury

Hasan Mashhud Chowdhury is a retired Bangladeshi army officer and Lieutenant General of the Bangladesh Army. He became the Chief of Army staff in 2002 and after retirement from the Army, became an adviser of the interim caretaker government in October 2006...

, after a series of disagreements which included army deployment in the country with the Chief adviser and President Iajuddin Ahmed. In October 2007, the Government of Bangladesh constituted a Regulatory Reforms Commission with him as the chair. Dr. Khan is reputed for integrity, pragmitism and uncompromising attitude. His book Porarthoporotar Orthoniti (Economics of Other-minding) has been a popular book on economics à la Galbraith.

Early life

Akbar Ali was born in Nabinagar, Brahmanbaria, a sub-division of the-then Comilla

Comilla

Comilla is a city in south-eastern Bangladesh, located along the Dhaka-Chittagong Highway. It is the administrative center of the Comilla District, part of the Chittagong Division. The Eastern Wing of Bangladesh Highway Police is located in Comilla....

 district. He attended Nabinagar High School. He got admitted to the Dhaka College

Dhaka College

, located in Dhaka, is one of Bangladesh's earliest and most prestigious higher educational institutions. It offers both four years bachelor's and one years masters course in various majors, but it is best known for HSC...

 and passed I.Sc. (now HSC) from there in 1961. Then he studied history at the University of Dhaka

University of Dhaka

The University of Dhaka is the oldest university in Bangladesh. It is a multi-disciplinary research university and is among the top universities in the region. Established on July 21, 1921, as per the Government of India Act, 1920, it was modelled on the Universities in England and soon gained...

 and completed his Bachelors and Masters from there in 1964 and 1965 respectively, with first class, topping list on both the occasions. Before joining the then Civil Service of Pakistan

CSP

-General:* CSP * Caledonian Steam Packet Company* California Society of Printmakers* California State Parks* Carol Shea-Porter* Center for Security Policy* Civil Services of Pakistan* Certified Safety Professional...

 he served as a teacher for some time. After foundation course at the Civil Service Academy in Lahore

Lahore

Lahore is the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab and the second largest city in the country. With a rich and fabulous history dating back to over a thousand years ago, Lahore is no doubt Pakistan's cultural capital. One of the most densely populated cities in the world, Lahore remains a...

 (1967–68), he was posted as the sub-divisional officer (SDO) of now defunct sub-district Habiganj in 1969.

Bangladesh liberation war

Akbar Ali actively participated in the civil disobedience

Civil disobedience

Civil disobedience is the active, professed refusal to obey certain laws, demands, and commands of a government, or of an occupying international power. Civil disobedience is commonly, though not always, defined as being nonviolent resistance. It is one form of civil resistance...

 movement in March 1971 before the commencement of the war of liberation on 25 th March 1971. When the war began, he decided to supply ammunition to the guerrilla fighters, still in the capacity of the SDO of Habiganj. As the Mujibnagar government was yet to be formed and war of liberation remained to be formally launched, many police officers disagreed to give arms and ammunition without a written order. Khan fearlessly gave written note ordering to provide the freedom fighters with food and money. Collecting from the sub-divisional treasury, he arranged to send nearly three Crore taka to Agartala by a truck to help run the Bangladesh Government to be formed on 17 April 1971. Later he left Bangladesh, the then East Pakistan

East Pakistan

East Pakistan was a provincial state of Pakistan established in 14 August 1947. The provincial state existed until its declaration of independence on 26 March 1971 as the independent nation of Bangladesh. Pakistan recognized the new nation on 16 December 1971. East Pakistan was created from Bengal...

, and moved to Agartala, India across the border to physically participate in the war of liberation. He said, "After reaching Agartala we focused on building up an 'eastern administration'. Our main aim was to support the freedom fighters and to help the refugees who had escaped Bangladesh and lived in camps. We established connection with the Mujibnagar Government after a few months of its formation on 17 April 1971. During the initial months we had to struggle single-handedly". In July, he was asked to come to Kolkata (Calcutta) to join the government. There he began working at the Cabinet division as a deputy secretary. Later, in August, he was transferred to Defense Ministry.

Later career

After independence of Bangladesh in the December 1971, Akbar Ali Khan was appointed in the Establishment Ministry of the government of Bangladesh. He worked there for six months and helped in the rehabilitation of the freedom fighters and also people who came back from Pakistan. From there he was transferred to the Education Ministry. In 1973 he decided to retire to take up teaching again as the profession. Although he submitted his resignation, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was a Bengali nationalist politician and the founder of Bangladesh. He headed the Awami League, served as the first President of Bangladesh and later became its Prime Minister. He headed the Awami League, served as the first President of Bangladesh and later became its...

, the then prime minister of the country, did not accept it. Instead he was granted leave of absence with lien to teach in a university. He taught at the Jahangirnagar University

Jahangirnagar University

Jahangirnagar University is a public university of Bangladesh. It is the one and only residential university in the country.The university was established in 1970 by the government of Pakistan by the Jahangirnagar Muslim University Ordinance, 1970. During the first two years, it operated as a...

 until receiving the Commonwealth Scholarship

Commonwealth Scholarship

The Commonwealth Scholarship and Fellowship Plan is an international programme under which Commonwealth governments offer scholarships and fellowships to citizens of other Commonwealth countries.-History:...

 to pursue higher education. He studied at the Queen's University

Queen's University

Queen's University, , is a public research university located in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Founded on 16 October 1841, the university pre-dates the founding of Canada by 26 years. Queen's holds more more than of land throughout Ontario as well as Herstmonceux Castle in East Sussex, England...

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 for Ph.D in Economics

Economics

Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...

. Upon his return to Bangladesh in 1979, he was shortly promoted as Associate Professor of the Jahangirnagar University. However, eventually he left teaching and returned to Bangladesh Civil Service.

In 1984, he joined the BPATC

BPATC

BPATC is the Bangladesh public administration training center,it is located in Savar, Dhaka.It is a training center for the government employee for being a good government officer.Its main purpose is to serve the government officers.It has a big and vibrant community.It has a school come...

 as a member of the directing staff (MDS). Thereafter, until 1987, he worked at the Rural Development Board, in the Water Resource Ministry and in the Bangladesh Public Service Commission

Bangladesh Public Service Commission

Bangladesh Public Service Commission is the central personnel agency for the government of People's Republic of Bangladesh. Its chairman is Dr. Saadat Husain. The agency conducts several examinations for prospective employees.-External links:...

. Later he was appointed in the Bangladesh Embassy in Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

 as its economic minister.

After completion of his tenure in Washington, Dr. Khan returned home and joined the Banking Division of the Finance Ministry as an Additional Secretary. During the period he re-organized BCCI Bank and took over BASIC Bank.

He worked in the Environmental Ministry before his promotion as a permanent secretary

Permanent Secretary

The Permanent secretary, in most departments officially titled the permanent under-secretary of state , is the most senior civil servant of a British Government ministry, charged with running the department on a day-to-day basis...

 to the government in 1993. In the capacity of Secretary, Internal Resources Division, he worked as the Chairman of the National Board of Revenue until 1995. Between 1995 and 2001, he worked as the Finance Secretary of the country. As he retired, government chose to nominate him as Alternative Executive Director of the World Bank

World Bank

The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programmes.The World Bank's official goal is the reduction of poverty...

, Washington where he served till 2005.

Dhaka University scandals

During the period of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s Prime Minister ship a scandal arose in the Dhaka University teachers about being Rajakar or not. As the Prime Minister asked the Education Minister to make an inquiry in to the matter, he handed it over to Akbar Ali Khan. Khan was apprehensive about this investigation as the law rejects the investigation which discarded it.
So he filed an investigation as he was ordered and provided a note mentioning about his opposing points. Perusing his note of dissent, President Abu Sayeed Chowdhury

Abu Sayeed Chowdhury

Abu Sayeed Chowdhury was a jurist and the President of Bangladesh. Abu Sayeed Choudhury was born on January 05, 1921 in a Zamindar family of Nagbari in Tangail District...

 asked the Education Minister to convince Prime Minister about Khan’s points. In this connection Dr. Khan said, "Every time I did not like or felt something that was against the law, I gave written notes, and in most cases my experience is saying it was bound to be accepted".

Current works

Retiring from World Bank he established Centre for Government Studies at the BRAC University

BRAC University

BRAC University is a private university in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The university was established by BRAC in 2001 under the Private University Act 1992. BRAC University had its first convocation in January 2006...

. Currently he is working there as a visiting professor. Recently he has become a public face as he appears in different TV Talk Shows to explain the current political and economic situation of the country. Besides, he is researching the historic and economic process of the country. On 30 October 2007, Khan was appointed the chairman of the Regulatory Reform Commission to modernize old and ineffective laws of the country.
However, he resigned from the post of Chairman of Regulatory Reforms Commission on 16 October 2009 sighting the cause that the government is not co-operating with the work of the Commission.

Books

Asiatic Society of Bangladesh

Asiatic Society of Bangladesh

The Asiatic Society of Bangladesh was established as the Asiatic Society of Pakistan in Dhaka in 1952. It was renamed as the Asiatic Society of Bangladesh in 1972. Ahmed Hasan Dani, a noted historian and archaeologist of Pakistan played an important role in founding this society. He was assisted by...

 published his book History of Bangladesh where he explored the historical and social emergences of Bangladesh as well as the growth of Islam in the country. In his economy related book "Porarthoporotar Orthoniti" (tr. Economics of Otherminding), he expressed the complex aspects of economic phenomenon in the lucid, unorthodox style of J. K. Galbraith.