Admin getting even heavier at the top

After the interim government took over, the number of officials in the upper echelon of the civil administration has become over three times the posts.

Giving officials promotions without vacant posts caused the number of additional secretaries, joint secretaries, and deputy secretaries to swell to this state.  

Experts say this is upsetting the balance of the civil administration which would take years to recover from, because promotions given to officers cannot be taken back.

The situation in the administration is also angering officials of other cadres, most of whom only get promoted once there is a vacancy. They say officials of administration cadre are getting undue benefits and raises through supernumerary promotions.

Against an approved post for 150 additional secretaries, the ousted Awami League government had promoted 395 officials. And now this government has promoted another 131 officers who have been deemed deprived during the previous regime, bringing the total to 467. 

"It'll take years to fix this imbalance in the civil administration that was caused by too many promotions."

— Abdul Awal Mazumder Former secretary

The picture is very similar when it comes to the 250 posts for joint secretaries. During the previous regime 650 officials held these positions and now the interim government has promoted 226 more, making the total 861.

It is the same in the case of deputy secretaries -- 450 posts, 1,450 officials during the previous government and now there are 1,599.

After the previous regime was toppled, officials previously deprived had hoped that they would get promoted. Which has happened, but it has created the new problem of top-heavy administration.

Abdul Awal Mazumder, a retired secretary, told this paper, "It'll take years to fix this imbalance in the civil administration that was caused by too many promotions.

"Provided that the person is qualified and there is a vacancy, only then that person should be promoted. If this can be done, the balance could be protected."

When asked for comments, former secretary and NBR Chairman Badiur Rahman told The Daily Star, "The practice of rewarding party loyalists with promotions became a bad tradition under the previous government. However, it is unclear from what perspective the current government has decided on these mass promotions."

He further stated, "The government could have promoted qualified officers who were previously deprived due to political reasons. Instead, like the previous administration, this government has also promoted en masse, putting unqualified individuals on par with deserving ones. This diminishes the respect for truly competent officers."

Senior Secretary to the Ministry of Public Administration Mokhlesur Rahman, said, "It is true that there are more officials than required in some higher positions. We are also addressing the cases of those who were deprived during the autocratic government."

Regarding irregularities, he said, "Before I took charge, there were some irregularities in promotions. However, no convicted officer will be promoted in future."

Siraz Uddin Miah, principal secretary to the chief adviser and the second-highest official in the administration, came down heavily on civil administration officials.

During an event organised by the Bangladesh Administrative Service Association at Dhaka's Biam Auditorium on November 16, he said, "With regret, I must say that since taking charge, I have received complaints from officers at various levels about personal grievances and dissatisfaction, but no proposals considering the bigger perspective."

Currently, there are 26 cadres in the public administration.

Among them, administration, foreign affairs, and police cadre officers get supernumerary promotions, which is promotions without vacant posts.

Most of these promotions are made in the administration cadre.

Officials of agriculture, health, education, information, roads, and railways only receive promotions when posts are vacant.

Now, officials of these cadres want what the administration cadres have been getting, promotions even if there are no vacant posts.

Omar Faruq Dewan, coordinator of officers of 25 cadres, except admin, seeking benefits similar to that of the administration cadre, told The Daily Star, "The officers who joined alongside us in the administration cadre are receiving promotions even without vacancies on top of better benefits. Why should we be left out?"

"We also want regular promotions against vacancies, but this must be done equally across all cadres."

PROMOTION OF GUILTY OFFICIALS

Deputy Secretary Ahmadul Haque, who served as the director (administration) of the Cyclone Preparedness Programme (CPP), was found guilty of indulging in corruption following a 2021 recruitment scandal.

After the probe, the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief had to cancel the recruitment.

However, Ahmadul was promoted to joint secretary after August 5.

Saiful Islam, now an officer at the Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division (IMED), had been demoted to assistant secretary from senior assistant secretary for resorting to corruption and due to misconduct.

The interim government promoted him to deputy secretary.

Saiful Islam was involved in a scuffle with other deputy secretaries inside the Secretariat on September 10. In the investigation that ensued, Saiful resorted to fraudulence and referred himself as "Saiful Hasan", the name of another deputy secretary.

FORMER OFFICERS BEING PROMOTED

The interim government had formed a special committee to address grievances among administration cadre officers who claimed to have been deprived.

This committee, led by former secretary Zakir Ahmed Khan, reviewed the cases of around 1,500 officials, from senior assistant secretary to secretary, and recommended that 764 of them get compensation, which includes financial benefits and retrospective promotions.

The committee did not consider other government employees.

A former secretary, speaking on condition of anonymity, said, "Providing such unethical benefits to top administrative officers sets a bad precedence. If there were committees for all deprived officials, it would have been acceptable."