Khurshida Begum Sayeed

Khurshida Begum Sayeed is a former commissioner of the Information Commission of Bangladesh, with the rank of a secretary of the government.^[1][2] She is a professor of government and politics at Jahangirnagar University.

Early life

Sayeed was born on 1 January 1953 in Rajbari District, East Pakistan, Pakistan.^[3] She graduated from Shiddeshwari Girls High School and Holy Cross Girls' High School in 1967 and 1969.^[3] She completed her bachelor's degree and master's in political science from University of Dhaka in 1973 and 1975 respectively.^[3] She completed her PhD in 1985 from Heidelberg University.^[3] Her thesis was on the Farakka Barrage.^[3]

Career

Sayeed joined the Family Development Services and Research in 1986 as a researcher.^[3] From 1986 to 1991, she was an assistant professor at the department of government and politics at Jahangirnagar University.^[3]

Sayeed became an associate professor in 1991 and a full professor in 1999.^[3]

In 2013, Sayeed was appointed a member of the board of advisors of the Ministry of Textiles and Jute.^[3] She was a member of the Bangladesh delegation to the 13th Session of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues in May 2014.^[3] She was appointed commissioner of the Information Commission on 28 September 2014.^[4][5] She served under chief commissioner Ambassador Mohammed Farooq and professor Md. Golam Rahman.^[4][6]

Sayeed sat at hearing of the Information Commission and found against government officers and fined them monetarily.^[7] She served alongside fellow commissioner, Nepal Chandra Sarker.^[8] In February 2016, she fined the officer in charge of Bhatara Police Station for failing to disclose requested information to a member of the public in the prescribed timeframe.^[9] She said that a culture of transparency was needed for the right to information act to be implemented.^[10]

Sayeed is a contributing author of Banglapedia.^[11]