Secys want all even after retirement

Secretaries at a meeting with the prime minister yesterday requested the government to provide them with various facilities like vehicles, residences and house helps even after their retirement, said sources.

They also called upon the government to allow executive magistrates to run mobile courts which the High Court declared unconstitutional, and to raise the retirement age of public servants from 59 to 62.

Besides, they wanted exclusive monograms on their official cars.

Addressing the meeting held at the Cabinet Division, PM Sheikh Hasina issued a 17-point directive to the top bureaucrats. These include taking effective steps at the field level to contain militancy and drug peddling, removing inter-cadre disparities and strengthening efforts to establish good governance.

During her introductory speech, she categorically mentioned that salaries and allowances of public servants have been raised during her tenure, and said the corruption of the employees has to be stopped.

The PM also asked the secretaries to ensure that all project directors stay at their stations and ordered 24-hour operation of Chittagong Customs House to speed up export and import services.

Earlier, she held another such meeting on April 7, 2014.

As secretaries said mobile courts are needed to effectively maintain law and order and check crimes like adulteration of food, the PM asked them to wait for the verdict of the Supreme Court in the related case now pending with the Apex Court.

In a judgement on May 13, the High Court observed that executive magistrates can't run mobile courts that used to try a number of offences, including illegal assembly, public nuisance, unauthorised connection of electricity, water and gas, and cheating at examination centres.

Delivering a verdict on three writ petitions, the HC also said that empowering executive magistrates with judicial powers is “a frontal attack on the independence of the judiciary”.

One of the secretaries at yesterday's meeting criticised Attorney General Mahbubey Alam for losing the case. 

Admin officials had lost their judicial powers following the separation of the judiciary from the executive in November 2007 during the caretaker government's rule.

In the face of strong protests, the then caretaker government had relented to give them some judicial powers. The then president promulgated an ordinance empowering executive magistrates to run mobile courts to maintain law and order. The ordinance, however, allowed them only to fine individuals for an offence.

According to sources at the meeting, a secretary urged the government to provide them after retirement with the facilities they enjoy during leave preparatory to retirement (LPR). Secretaries get government residences, vehicles and house helps during service and LPR.

At the meeting, Health Secretary Sirajul Islam said the retirement age of public servants should be raised from 59 to 62, citing examples of High Court judges and bureaucrats of neighbouring countries.

Public servants' retirement age was extended from 57 to 59 in 2012. It was fixed at 57 after the country's independence.

The retirement age of High Court and Supreme Court judges is 67 in Bangladesh while that of public servants is 62 in India, Pakistan and the US, and 65 in the UK.

The secretaries also called upon the government to create more posts of senior secretary or promote secretary to senior secretary within a fixed timeframe, said sources.

The PM asked secretaries to provide proper documents and information to the court through the Attorney General's Office because, she said, the government loses public interest litigation cases mostly for lack of proper documents.

She asked them to fix strategies to implement Annual Development Programme (ADP) at the beginning of a fiscal year instead of hurrying at the end.

Talking to reporters later, Secretary of Cabinet Division for Coordination and Reforms NM Ziaul Alam said, "The prime minister instructed the Chittagong Customs House to remain open for 24 hours for export and import of goods."