The center for Policy Analysis and Advocacy (CPAA) organized the roundtable on 22 September 2024 at Dhaka Reporters' Unity. CPAA President, Professor Dr M Shariful Alam, who is also a former secretary to the government, moderated the roundtable while several imminent scholars and intellectuals spoke. The main speakers included Professor Md Nazrul Islam, Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, Dr Mirza Hassan of Brac Institute of Governance and Development, Sohrab Hasan, joint editor, the daily Prothom Alo, former judge Ektedar Ahmed, Professor Syeda Sultana Razia of BUET, Professor Atiar Rahman, Chittagong University and Supreme Court lawyer Barrister Foyez Ahmed. Associate Professor Md Shariful Islam of Dhaka University and Professor Md Shafiul Islam of Rajshahi University jointly presented the paper. The speakers underscored that Bangladesh needs a new type of governance where accountability and transparency play crucial roles and personality cults are undermined. They stressed that the interim government should listen to stakeholders to make reforms organic and homegrown. The speakers noted that to make the state more effective, there must be strong efforts to make all state institutions, including bureaucracy, free from politicization and committed to professional values and service delivery. Moving forward, people must be put at the center of development policy, as recommended by the roundtable.