The government is planning a massive revamp in the civil bureaucracy as 159 bureaucrats, including 15 secretaries, will retire this year ‘creating scopes for fresh promotion and posting.’
As part of its plan to revitalise the administration, the Awami League-led government would overhaul both field and top administrations and give another round of promotion to the level of deputy secretaries, according to some officials, to please a section of senior assistant secretaries, mostly working in the district and upazila administrations.
A senior official alleged that some officials loyal to the ruling Awami League was pressuring the government to give promotion to the deputy secretary rank although senior officers had already outnumbered juniors in a deviation from the approved organogram.
At least 50 additional secretaries, 54 joint secretaries, 18 deputy secretaries and 22 senior assistant secretaries/assistant secretaries will retire from the civil service, among others, in 2014, according to the public administration ministry’s records as of January 28.
None of the officials retired in 2012 and 2013 as the retirement age of the government employees had been extended by two years in December 2011.
‘Many officers would retire at a time this year after a gap of two years, creating scopes for changes at various levels
in the bureaucracy,’ the public administration ministry’s senior secretary Abdus Sobhan Sikder said.
He told New Age that the people who had been officers on special duty for a long time without having any work would now be given postings in phases.
‘The officers who are capable and not facing any departmental proceedings will get posting. This will obviously help to bring some dynamism in the administration,’ Abdus Sobhan added.
The secretary said that at least 30 positions in various departments and organisations were being upgraded to Grade I which would also create scopes for fresh postings to these positions. ‘It is the positions that are being upgraded, not the officials’ ranks.’
The government on December 26, 2011 extended the retirement age of its employees by two years to 59 years with an immediate effect resulting in hundreds of officers and employees, set to retire in 2012, automatically getting an extension of service by two more years.
A day after the AL-led government had assumed office for the second consecutive term, the public administration ministry on January 13 promoted 80 joint secretaries to the rank of additional secretary, increasing their number to 311 against 117 approved in the organogram.
The ministry has also prepared the list of nearly 300 senior assistant secretaries based on recommendations of the Superior Selection Board for promotion to deputy secretary, according to officials.
There are more than 400 OSDs, including 2 secretaries, 52 additional secretaries and 154 joint secretaries in the civil administration, official records show.
