Bangladesh News

The immediate past government promoted officials with political leanings towards BNP and Jamaat to high-ranking posts of the civil administration with an aim to using the administration during the upcoming general elections, sources said.

Officials of the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) controlled promotions to key posts during the immediate past government’s five-year tenure and the officers without political leanings towards the ruling alliance were either deprived of due promotions or got punitive postings, sources said adding that the highest number of officers were made OSDs (officer on special duty) by the last government.

Recommendations of the Superior Selection Board (SSB), the highest policymaking authority in giving promotions to government officials, were turned down by the PMO. While in many cases the PMO officials influenced the SSB to recommend certain officials for promotions.

The four-party alliance government inducted the highest number of secretaries from the 1979 batch of the Bangladesh Civil Service (BCS), decorating the administration with a whopping 33 secretaries from that batch out of a total of 54. But, in a number of cases competent officials of the same batch were also superseded in giving promotions.

Sources said an officer who was in the 122nd position on the combined merit list of the 1979 batch got promoted as a secretary superseding at least six officers whose positions were among the first 30 on the list prepared by the Public Service Commission (PSC) and who had all the prerequisites for promotions.

The present secretary to the Election Commission (EC), Abdur Rashid Sarker, superseded many competent officers in getting the promotion while his position was 52nd on the combined merit list.

Citing examples of violating promotion rules, a source said Dr M Fouzul Kabir Khan and Dr M Zahid Hossain did not get promotions despite fulfilling all requirements and having good positions on the combined merit list. “Dr Fouzul Kabir Khan was in the second position while Dr M Zahid Hossain in the sixth on the merit list for promotions,” the source said.

The source also said both Dr Fouzul Kabir Khan and Dr Zahid Hossain are prominent economists. “Financing Big Projects, a book written by Dr Khan has been selected as a text in Stanford University of the United States and he is now working on lien for Asian Development Bank,” the source added.

On January 10, 2005, the law ministry in its report stated that both Dr Fouzul Kabir Khan and Dr Zahid Hossain were eligible to get promotions along with other officials of their batch. Later, the SSB also recommended them for promotions as additional secretaries and immediate past prime minister Khaleda Zia approved it on February 22, 2005. But, till date the order has not been activated. Both the officials are now working on lien and think that it is better to be where they are rather than getting back to the civil service since officers junior to them will be their bosses now.

Another officer of the administration cadre M Quddus Khan was also not given a due promotion when his position was the eighth on the combined merit list of the 1979 batch.

Widely known as an honest officer of the same batch Badiur Rahman also was deprived of a due promotion, while the last government promoted Syed Mohammad Zobayer, an officer junior to him, to the post of a secretary. “Badiur Rahman took a leave of absence since officers junior to him had been promoted by superseding him,” said a relative of Badiur adding, “This is a protest.”

“A syndicate in the Prime Minister’s Office tested political leanings of government officials before giving promotions and deprived the officials whom it disliked or who could not prove their political loyalty, or who did not bribe the syndicate,” said a high-ranking bureaucrat, who is now an OSD allegedly for political reasons.

In an alleged bid to axe officers of the 1973 batch, the four-party alliance government introduced the promotion rules 2002. But, despite having all requirements, as stated in the new promotion rules, at least eight officers eligible to be promoted to posts of secretaries and 20 officers eligible for posts of additional secretaries have yet to get the promotions.

The main objective of the new promotion rules was to axe the 1973 batch and bolster the 1979 batch, sources said adding that the new promotion rules did not define specifically the meanings of merit, competence and seniority.

One source cited from the new rules and said it allocated 25 marks out of 100 for educational qualifications gained prior to joining the service. But, no mark was allocated for in-service trainings, higher degrees, researches, publications and professional examinations.

A total of 113 officers of the 1981 batch were listed on the basis of merit positions for promotions to posts of additional secretaries. Sources said at least 12 officers of the first 40 on the list did not get promotions while the last person (113th) on the merit list was promoted.

Jamil Osman, who was in the third position on the merit list for promotion as an additional secretary and in the first position among other officers of his own cadre (Taxes) did not get the promotion although the SSB recommended him for the post. Similarly, ATM Fazlul Karim (9th) and Rokeya Sultana (12th) were also deprived of due promotions.

MAK Mahmood, an officer of the 1978 batch in the foreign service, is another example of deprivation who has been an OSD for the last three years. He had been the director general of the foreign ministry before being made an OSD in September, 2003. Prior to that position, Mahmood was the consul general of the Bangladesh Mission in the US. Meanwhile, many officials junior to him have been promoted causing frustration for him.