“Ministries under inexperienced, unskilled leadership,” 25 cadres say, demanding change

The Inter-Cadre Discrimination Elimination Council, representing 25 cadres of the Bangladesh Civil Service, or BCS, has alleged that the current quota system for promotions to deputy secretary positions allows “inexperienced” and “inefficient” officers from the administration cadre to lead ministries.

At a discussion held at the Krishibid Institution of Bangladesh in Dhaka on Friday, the council called for the abolition of the current quota system and demanded promotions based purely on merit through examinations.

The council’s Chief Coordinator Md Mofizur Rahman said, “Inexperienced, unskilled people are leading ministries. Why is the health cadre not heading its own ministry?”

Mofizur, a 24th batch officer of the education cadre, criticised the monopoly of administration cadre officials over policy-making roles in key ministries like health and education.

Despite the health cadre comprising 32,000 officers, none occupy Grade 1 or Grade 2 positions, he said.

The officer criticised the discriminatory promotion process.

He said, "I didn’t join the civil service to be told that the promotion meeting is cancelled because someone in [the administration cadre] is not in a good mood today.

“I didn't come to be promoted at the mercy of someone else."

Mofizur added, "My promotion should be handled by my cadre service officials, or a neutral body should oversee promotions for both them and us."

On Dec 17, Abdul Muyeed Chowdhury, the head of the Public Administration Reform Commission, proposed reducing the administration cadre’s quota for deputy secretary promotions from 75 per cent to 50 per cent and introducing merit-based examinations.

Currently, 75 per cent of deputy secretary positions are reserved for the administration cadre, with the remaining 25 per cent allocated to the other cadres.

In protest against the commission’s recommendations, administration cadre officials staged a demonstration at the ministry.

They described the proposal as “illogical and conspiratorial” and demanded 100 per cent of the deputy secretary promotions be reserved for their cadre.