Public Works Department
Profile
- Head
- Md. Shahadat Hossain
- Role
- Chief Engineer
- Annual budget
- n/a
- Staff
- 17000
- Established
- 1962
- Legal basis
- Originated from the Bengal Presidency's Public Works Department (formally entrusted to provincial government 21 April 1854); reorganized in 1962 when the predecessor Construction and Building (C&B) organisation was bifurcated into PWD (buildings and civil works) and the Roads and Highways Department (roads and bridges); continued under independent Bangladesh post-1971 under the Ministry of Housing and Public Works
Provenance & notes
PWD's colonial roots trace to the Bengal Presidency's formal entrustment on 21 April 1854; the modern department as a separate 'buildings' entity was created in 1962 when the unified Construction and Building (C&B) organisation was bifurcated into PWD (civil buildings) and Roads and Highways Department (roads). established_year is set to 1962 (the reorganization creating the current-scope entity), not 1854 (colonial predecessor) or 1948 (Pakistan-era continuity). Chief Engineer Md. Shahadat Hossain: confirmed from PWD official key_personal page (m.pwd.gov.bd/about/key_personal/); head_since is null because no primary source specifies his appointment date. staff_count (~17,000): drawn from the official PWD manpower page structure (825 Class-I gazetted officers, 1,183 Class-II, 3,000+ Class-III employees plus supporting staff across seven zonal offices); this is an approximation, not a single audited figure. annual_budget_bdt is null: PWD does not publish a standalone institutional budget; it executes projects under the parent ministry's ADP allocation (Tk 22,776.40 crore for housing and community facilities in FY2025-26) and its own operational budget is not separately disclosed in accessible sources. BBRA Act: parliament voted on 9 April 2026 (31-bill omnibus session per Dhaka Tribune and UNB); the Housing Minister confirmed to parliament on 23 April 2026 that 'the BBRA Act was passed on April 10, 2026' -- the April 10 date reflects the gazette/assent date while April 9 is the parliamentary vote date; both dates are sourced from primary records and the discrepancy is noted. BNBC 2020 enforcement: PWD Chief Engineer sits on the ministry-led interim committee preparatory to full BBRA formation; PWD Executive Engineers head all district-level Building Construction Committees; structural design vetting by PWD is the current enforcement mechanism. Sufia Kamal Library Tk 600 crore figure: cross-verified TBS (tbsnews.net) and Dhaka Tribune; 65% completion and end-2027 target per Dhaka Tribune (March 2026) and Daily Star. All major claims cross-verified against 2+ independent primary sources. Activity evidence hold: removed 3 exact generated refresh event(s) on read. Generated scores, positions, activity actions and verification stamps are unavailable. Retained events and unmatched action text require source review; original raw records are unchanged.
Sources
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_Works_Department_(Bangladesh)
- https://pwd.gov.bd/
- https://m.pwd.gov.bd/about/key_personal/
- https://m.pwd.gov.bd/about/manpower
- https://grokipedia.com/page/Public_Works_Department_(Bangladesh)
- https://www.rhd.gov.bd/RHDAtGlance/index.asp
- https://www.bssnews.net/js-session/380695
- https://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/parliament/407362/24-bills-passed-in-parliament-thursday
- https://unb.com.bd/category/Bangladesh/parliament-passes-31-bills-related-to-ig-era-ordinances/183312
- https://www.thedailystar.net/news/bangladesh/news/5yrs-no-building-regulatory-body-yet-4045971
- https://pwdta.gov.bd/notice/bnbc-2020/
- https://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/dhaka/392498/national-library%E2%80%99s-new-building-to-open-by-end-of
- https://www.thedailystar.net/news/bangladesh/news/sufia-kamal-national-public-library-modernisation-project-lies-incomplete-3-years-4160771
- https://bbra.portal.gov.bd/site/page/ea75619c-7640-4d31-9602-b90eae6dcef6/-
- https://www.worldconstructionnetwork.com/analyst-comment/bangladesh-interim-government-adp-spending/