Dr. is in trouble with the 'head-heavy administration'. Yunus' interim government
September 22, 202411 Mins Read

Tarekuzzaman Shimul, BBC News Bangla: During the last one and a half decade rule of the ousted Awami League government, almost one and a half times more officials than the number allowed in public administration have been promoted to senior secretaries and secretaries. In case of Additional Secretary and Joint-Secretary posts, this number is more than two times.

On the one hand, the administrative expenses have increased due to the salary and rent of additional officers, and in many cases, the promotion of political considerations without regard to the rules has caused anger among the rest of the officers.

After the interim government assumed power on August 8, disgruntled officials have started coming forward.

Many people are protesting to demand promotion, and even incidents like fighting between officials in the secretariat have been seen over the issue.

At the same time, it is seen that the officials who got important duties during Sheikh Hasina's government are being removed and new faces are being brought there. As a result, the question arises as to whether the burdensome administration is going to get heavier in the future.

In the meantime, complaints are being received again that some of the officials who got benefits during the Awami League period are not cooperating with the new government.

All in all, a month and a half after the change of power, there is a kind of instability in the administration and slowness in government work, which Professor Dr. Government of Muhammad Yunus.

Unbalanced administration burdened by officials

Former bureaucrats say that the public administration of Bangladesh is like a 'pyramid' in terms of structure.

"That means there will be less manpower at the top of the administration and more at the bottom, which looks like the pyramids of Egypt," former secretary Abu Alam said to BBC Bangla. Shahid Khan

But now the opposite picture is seen.

According to the Government Employee Management System (GEMS) data, the number of regular secretary posts in public administration is 60. But during the previous Awami League government, it increased to 82.

A number of secretaries were sent on compulsory retirement after the interim government came to power, canceling many earlier contractual appointments.

Besides, some officers have also been made special duty officers or OSDs. The number of secretaries has decreased to 74 now.

On the other hand, the number of approved posts of additional secretary in public administration has been kept at 212, but now more than twice the number of officers are working.

As per Government Employees Management System (GEMS), the number of Additional Secretaries currently working is around 546.

Besides, the same situation is seen in the case of the post of joint secretary.

As against 502 posts sanctioned by the government, about 1147 people are now working as joint secretaries in the administration.

“Due to these additional officers, there has been an imbalance in the administration. As a result, the work is not being done as it was supposed to be," said the former bureaucrat Mr. eat

Promotion on political grounds

Current and former bureaucrats say that most of the officials who have been promoted in the public administration during the last one and a half decade rule of the ousted Awami League government in the face of mass agitation, have been promoted due to political considerations.

“This has happened more or less since the 1980s under different governments. But in the last 10 years of the Awami League government, it has gone down to the level of fish rights," former secretary Mr. eat

He believes that he did this to keep the former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's government administration officials as a strategy to come to power and survive through the 2014 'no-vote' elections.

"In this case, Sheikh Hasina wants to stay in power at any cost. And the officials who helped him in the greed of promotion, they got promotion as a reward," said Mr. eat

Meanwhile, many other officials in the administration felt 'deprived' of being promoted due to political considerations, the current officials said.

“They (Awami League government) have been selectively promoted in most cases whom they consider to be their own people. In this case it was not done on the basis of merit or merit," said the convener and secretary of the organization of administrative cadres 'Bangladesh Administrative Service Association' (BAS). Md. Anwar Ullah.

Sheikh Hasina's government was ousted in the face of a mass movement on August 5. Photo source, EPA
Photo Caption Sheikh Hasina's government was ousted in the face of a mass movement on the 5th of August
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“It has been seen that many officers have not been promoted despite being ahead in terms of merit and qualifications. They have been stuck in the same position for years, some have retired like that," said Mr. Ullah

"On the other hand, those who cooperated with the government in irregularities and corruption, paid bribes, lobbied, were promoted and placed in big positions. These activities have created anger in the minds of the deprived officials, which is now coming out,” said the BAS convener.

It is to be noted that in the last one and a half months, numerous former bureaucrats have appealed to the interim government and complained that they were denied promotion and retired while Sheikh Hasina was in power.

Many of them now want to return to work, some are demanding compensation.

A number of retired officials have been returned to work with contractual appointments, including the senior secretary of the Ministry of Public Administration. Mokhles ur Rahman is also there.

Unprecedented protests and unrest

Analysts say that the level of protests and unrest seen in public administration after the fall of the Awami League government through mass coups has never been seen in Bangladesh.

"This is unprecedented in the history of Bangladesh. Even after the independence of the country in 1971, such instability was not seen in the administration," former secretary Abu Alam told BBC Bangla. Shahid Khan

In fact, since the fall of Sheikh Hasina on August 5th, the public administration has seen a kind of instability.

In the last one and a half months, there has been a massive reshuffle in various administrative positions. Hundreds of officials have been newly transferred, posted and appointed in various ministries including Home Affairs, Public Administration, Local Government.

Senior Secretaries of several Ministries including Public Administration, Shipping have been made Officers on Special Duty (OSD).

The interim government under the leadership of Professor Yunus took power on August 8. Photo source, Getty Images
photo caption.
Some even resigned voluntarily.

On September 10, riots and scuffles took place in the secretariat during one phase of the protest over the appointment of the Deputy Commissioner.

"Such coercion for promotion has never been seen before," said former bureaucrat Mr. eat

And 'Bangladesh Administrative Service Association' (BAS) is holding the Awami League government responsible for such a situation.

"This kind of 'unwanted' incident is happening now as a result of the anger that has arisen among the deprived officials due to the promotion and promotion on the basis of party considerations without following the rules," BAS convener said to BBC Bangla. Md. Anwar Ullah.

All the reasons for slowness in work

The instability created in the administration around the promotion and posting is having a negative impact on the administrative work. As a result, even after a month and a half of the interim government assuming power, the lack of discipline and slowness of work is being observed in the administration.

"It is normal for government work to slow down if officials continue to protest like this about promotions," said Mr. former secretary to BBC Bangla. eat

Meanwhile, seeing the administration raising demands by the cadres, it is now known that other cadres have also started walking the path.

Less than a week after the uproar over the appointment of the Deputy Commissioner, more than one and a half hundred officials from other cadres went to the Ministry of Public Administration to demand promotion as joint secretaries.

On the other hand, the anti-discrimination student movement has alleged that a section of government officials and employees are not cooperating with the new government. Officials in the government are also admitting this.

"Except for a few officials, everyone is cooperating with the government," Ali Imam Majumdar, an adviser to the interim government, told BBC Bengal.

"During the time of the previous government, those who have irregularly and unethically taken advantage, sitting in various positions, they are basically showing disinterest in cooperating with the government," said the convenor of Bangladesh Administrative Service Association Mr. Ullah

Besides, many of the administration officials who are 'corrupt and will retire in a few months' are not working seriously, said this high-level official of the government.

All in all, analysts fear that the new government may face an image crisis if the current situation in the administration is not resolved and the work is resumed.

"It is important to stop the unrest in the administration to make visible the initiatives that this government is taking to bring changes in various fields. If this instability continues for a long time, the government may face an image crisis," said former secretary Abu Alam. Shahid Khan

A waste of talent and money

Analysts say that due to the need of additional manpower in the top posts of the administration, including secretary, additional secretary, joint secretary, the government money is being spent extra.

Basically, as the basic salary of a government official increases with promotion, various facilities like house rent, medical allowance, travel allowance, entertainment allowance etc. also increase. As a result, government expenditure increases with each promotion.

"Therefore giving more promotion than necessary is a waste of people's tax money," said Mr. Ullah

According to the finance department, government expenditure on salaries and allowances of state officials has increased by more than two and a half times in the last decade.

In the fiscal year 2014-15, about 28 thousand 820 crores were spent on salaries and allowances of government employees. After ten years, i.e. in the budget of the fiscal year 2024-25, it has been increased to 81 thousand 580 crores in the same sector.

Out of this, excluding allowances, only the salaries of officials have been estimated at 12 thousand 758 crores.

On the other hand, talent is also being wasted due to unnecessary promotion. In this case, it is known that many people are not getting jobs according to their merit as there are multiple people in the same position.

"Where two people are needed, there are five naturally the rest are getting work according to the post," said the government bureaucrat Mr. Ullah

Again, as the number is more than the allocation, various facilities including office rooms have to be shared, as a result of which there is sometimes confusion, the officials said.

Apart from this, it is seen that many of the officers who were appointed and promoted for political considerations are becoming OSD after the change of government.

“And after doing OSD he is usually not given work or responsibilities, but is given a stipend. As a result, this is also a waste of government money and talent," former secretary Abu Alam told BBC Bangla. Shahid Khan

Who is responsible?

Current and former bureaucrats are mainly blaming the country's political culture for the complications that are being created in the administrative activities as well as the wastage of money and talent of the state due to heavy-handed administration.

“Political parties are mainly responsible for the current situation. Because every government has tried to use more or less state officials-employees for their own interests," said the former secretary Mr. eat

However, he thinks that the officials are also responsible for this.

"Officials are also joining hands with the rulers for the sake of promotion. As a result, both parties are responsible," said Mr. eat

It should be noted that many believe that government officials have played one of the main roles in keeping the Awami League in power through the last three controversial national elections in Bangladesh.

Those who played a direct role in this work are said to have been 'rewarded' with major promotions.

Apart from this, there are also allegations that Sheikh Hasina's government has frequently increased the salaries and allowances of government employees to keep the administration in their favour.

A recent report by a private research institute, the Policy Research Institute of Bangladesh (PRI) has said that during the last 12 years of the Awami League government, the salaries and allowances of government officials have increased by about four hundred and six percent.

During the period when this incident of salary hike took place, officers from various levels of police and administration were seen participating in various meetings of the party.

They have even been seen openly soliciting votes for boats before elections.

"But it is clearly stated in the code of conduct of government employees that they cannot participate in any political gathering," said the former bureaucrat. eat

"Therefore, those who have violated the code of conduct, they must take responsibility," he said.

However, some of the officials are claiming that they cannot perform their duties impartially under the pressure of the political government.

"How do we oppose them from under the political government? If I go against it, they will take action against me and keep it as OSD. There are numerous such precedents,” a joint-secretary-level government official told BBC Bengal.

So what is the way out of this situation?

"The way out of this is to give legal protection to the officials," former bureaucrat Abu Alam told BBC Bangla. Shahid Khan

Bangladesh has also passed a law called 'Government Employment Act 2018' to protect government employees.

"It is possible to keep the administration free from party influence and neutral if the officers and employees can be protected in carrying out their duties without fear by ensuring its fair application," said Mr. eat

What is the government saying?

The responsible persons of the interim government believe that factionalism is the most responsible for the instability and slowness in the administration.

“There is no denying that partyization has caused great damage to the administration. Especially in service sectors like police force, education, medical etc. there has been more damage as a result of factionalization,” Ali Imam Mazumder, Advisor attached to the Office of the Chief Advisor, told BBC Bangla.

The advisor said that the current government is trying to recover from that loss and bring the administration back into order.

“We are trying our best. But it will take some time to overcome the damage,” said Mr. Majumdar

Professor Dr. has formed a commission on September 11 to push public administration. Interim government led by Muhammad Yunus.

The commission, headed by former caretaker government adviser Abdul Mueed Chowdhury, will start working from October 1 and is expected to submit a reform report by December 31.

It has been informed by the government that this new commission will work with the aim of eliminating party influence and corruption and making the administration neutral and people-friendly.

"The government is taking all necessary steps to make the administration neutral and people-friendly," Mr. Majumdar

The advisor also hopes that the instability that is being seen in the administration will be over soon and the work will resume.