How can we be of assistance?

If the National Helpline Centre is not providing actual help to the citizens of this country, then what’s the point?

The Dhaka Tribune has found that, time and again, various helpline centres have been woefully inadequate in providing satisfactory service, either because they lacked the initiative to do so at best, or by being utterly clueless about the problem at hand at worst.

Often, citizens find themselves being bounced from one branch of the government to another.

This is unacceptable.

Much of the problem seems to stem from the fact that the on-duty dispatchers are ill-equipped to handle the calls they receive.

Even worse is the fact that some of the officers at these help centres are unaware of the services they should be providing.

This is a serious issue that the government needs to deal with, and it needs to be dealt with immediately.

These helplines are meant to not only provide emergency assistance to our citizens, but to also provide information regarding the various aspects of daily life such as filing taxes, utility billing, and other government services.

If there is no source of information for the citizens of this country, those who cannot afford lawyers and assistants, and those who are not educated enough, how does the government expect the common citizen to abide by its various rules and regulations?

We understand that, in a country like Bangladesh, calls such as these are all too common and can be overwhelming.

But that is no excuse.

As such, this is what needs to happen: The dispatchers need to be trained properly, not only in being able to provide necessary information, but also in knowing how to deal with the people who air their complaints.

An efficient and effective helpline is crucial for any nation to function, especially one aspiring to achieve middle-income status in the next few years.