Fortunes of over 250 officials about to change

The government is set to promote Senior Assistant Secretaries to the rank of Deputy Secretary in the administration. For this purpose, the Superior Selection Board (SSB), the recommending authority for promotions, has scrutinized the data of at least 450 eligible bureaucrats.

A preliminary list of recommended candidates, after several meetings, has also been finalized. If all goes according to plan, the Ministry of Public Administration may issue a notification tonight (Thursday) or early next week. In this regard, indications suggest that the fate of more than 250 officials could be decided. However, no responsible officials did make comments officially on the matter.

According to sources in the Ministry of Public Administration, the 31st BCS batch is being considered the regular batch for this round of promotions to the Deputy Secretary post. The 252 officers of this batch became eligible for promotion to Deputy Secretary on February 15, 2023. Alongside them, 25% of officers from other cadres will also be promoted. More than two hundred officers from other cadres have applied for promotion to Deputy Secretary.

From among them, 55 to 60 candidates may be considered. Additionally, there are indications that at least 50-55 of the 79 deprived officers from the 30th BCS batch may also be taken into consideration. Altogether, around 265-270 officers are likely to be promoted from Senior Assistant Secretary to Deputy Secretary.

Inquiries reveal that during Sheikh Hasina's tenure, the first gazette for the appointment of the 31st BCS was issued on December 27, 2012. On January 15, 2013, the officers of the 31st BCS batch joined the BCS cadre service. For this batch, then-Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's advisor on public administration, H.T. Imam, had issued a Statutory Regulatory Order (SRO) to appoint trusted individuals of the Awami League. After completing recruitment into the cadre service, 23 individuals were illegally appointed to the 31st batch. Among them, 11 were in the administration cadre, 6 in the police cadre, 3 in the economic cadre, 1 in the information cadre, 1 in the family planning cadre, and 1 in the tax cadre. Addressing the officers of this batch at a Dhaka University Chhatra League event, then-Prime Minister's political advisor H.T. Imam had said, "You just have to pass the written exams; we'll handle the rest." For this reason, the current government and authorities concerned have a special surveillance on this batch.

According to the latest data from the Ministry of Public Administration, the current administration has an approved number of 1,420 Deputy Secretary posts, including supernumerary positions. In contrast, 1,481 officers are currently serving. This means there are at least 60 officers more than the approved posts. With no vacancies available, if new promotions are made, the promoted officers will have to continue working in their current posts (in situ).

According to the Government's Promotion Policy for Deputy Secretary, Joint Secretary, Additional Secretary, and Secretary-2002, 75% of officers for promotion to Deputy Secretary must be from the administration cadre, and 25% must be from other cadres. Candidates must have five years of service as a Senior Assistant Secretary and at least 10 years of total service as a member of their respective cadre. They also need to secure a minimum of 83 marks in the evaluation. Accordingly, officers of the 31st BCS batch achieved eligibility in February 2023. However, almost three and a half years have passed since then, but they have yet to receive promotion.

When asked, former Additional Secretary and public administration expert Md. Firoz Mia told Agamir Somoy, "Eligible officers should be promoted in a timely manner. Otherwise, it creates resentment, frustration, and dissatisfaction among them. Administrative work gets disrupted, and a disillusioned administration is born. Ultimately, public service is affected."