For government employees, voluntary retirement with pension benefits currently requires 25 years of service. The Public Administration Reform Commission is set to recommend lowering the requirement to 15 years.

The commission is also likely to recommend doing away with a legal provision that allows the authorities to force employees to retire after they have been on the job for 25 years or more, said multiple sources in the commission.

Sections 44 and 45 of the Government Service Act-2018 would need to be amended in order to implement these recommendations.

The Public Administration Reform Commission held a meeting yesterday to finalise the recommendations. It will hand the chief adviser the recommendation on February 5, which is the new deadline for the submission.

"Currently, if a government employee voluntarily retires before 25 years in service, they do not get pension benefits. This is why the commission is recommending the change," said a source.

However, those retiring after 15 years will not get the full pension benefits, for which one must be on the job for 25 years.

No commission member is willing to explain on record the rationale behind the recommendations.

"Officers often receive better job offers in the private sector. Unless they have been on the job for 25 years, they often do not take those opportunities because they do not want to lose their pension benefits. We want to change that."

As to why the government should not be allowed to force someone to retire, another source said, "An officer should not be afraid of forced retirement for disagreeing with the government or having a history of being a member of an opposition party."

But if an employee does something wrong, the authorities can launch departmental procedure and force them to retire. "But such retirement should not be forced under the pretext of public interest."

The option of voluntary retirement after 15 years is an opportunity for some. A joint secretary who worked at the Prime Minister's Office when the Awami league was in power, said, "I have lost the enthusiasm for work. I got the job by obtaining brilliant results. I worked in important positions because of my ability to work well. But now I am labelled as a fascist collaborator. If they implement the recommendations, I will retire and leave the country."

Another source in the commission said the recommendations were not designed to give advantage to a particular group.

"In the past, recommendations of various commissions were rejected. As this commission was formed after a mass uprising, we hope the government will implement its recommendations.

"We strongly recommend stopping the current practice of giving promotions to more officers than there are posts. Those who do not get promotions will have the opportunity to leave the service after 15 years and move on."

The commission may propose reducing the time an officer gets to provide information sought under the Right to Information Act. it may also propose increasing the penalties under the act.

Public administration researcher and former secretary AKM Abdul Awal Majumder said, "In the armed forces, there is an opportunity for retirement after 15 years. Most officers cannot advance further after a major promotion, so they voluntarily retire and join other work. However, I don't think this opportunity will be taken by many in the civil administration. But if the option is there, I don't see any harm."

The commission will recommend lowering the number of ministries and divisions to 25 to 30 from the current 55.

The Economic Strategy Redefinition Task Force has already recommended merging the road, rail, water, and air transport ministries.

The commission may recommend not allowing officials of one institution to work in another on deputation.

It may recommend promotions to the rank of deputy secretary based on the Senior Service Pool (SSP) Order-1979.

The SSP initiative was taken during President Ziaur Rahman's tenure. It was not implemented by the HM Ershad government.

In that case, opportunities for administration cadre promotions to the rank of deputy secretary may be more limited.

However, the commission is also going to recommend reserving 50 percent of the positions for administration cadre promotions to the rank of deputy secretary.