Officials of 25 cadres demand end to quotas in deputy secretary promotions
In a written statement, the council’s coordinator Muhammad Mofizur Rahman said they have reviewed the problems and solutions of the 25 cadres who are represented by the council
Key issues identified by 25 cadres
- Recruitment of inexperienced officers
- Promotion in deputy secretary and above positions using quota
- Discrimination among cadres
Officials from 25 cadres of the Bangladesh Civil Service (BCS) have put forward three demands aimed at reducing inter-cadre disparities, including the removal of quotas in promotions to the post of deputy secretary.
Members of the Inter-Cadre Discrimination Elimination Council put forward these demands during a discussion on building a people-friendly civil service, held at the Krishibid Institution Bangladesh auditorium in the capital today (3 January 2025).
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In a written statement, the council's coordinator Muhammad Mofizur Rahman said they have reviewed the problems and solutions of the 25 cadres who are represented by the council.
Addressing the discussion, he said three key issues have been identified - recruitment of inexperienced and amateur officers in the ministry; applying the quota system for promotion in the deputy secretary and above positions; and discrimination among the cadres.
The council believes a state with a public-friendly service structure will be created if these three problems are solved.
According to the council, the solutions are – Ensuring professionalism; each ministry should be controlled and managed by the skilled, experienced, and expert officials of the respective cadre, meaning ministries should be established based on professional roles.
It also stated that the quota system for deputy secretary promotion should be removed by reintroducing the Senior Services Pool (SSP) system and appointing the deputy secretary and above posts based on merit.
Another solution from the council was that the existing discrimination between cadres should be removed.
Mofizur said a Public Administration Reform Commission has been formed as part of the civil administration reform. "Although the commission's formation is discriminatory, we want to cooperate with it. We have pledged to work to build a public-friendly civil administration through discussions with the commission.
"We have proposed the appointment of officers based on examination from all cadres by cancelling the quota system for the post of deputy secretary. But the commission has recommended appointing 50% of deputy secretaries from the administration cadre and another 50% from the rest. They also recommended removing the education and health cadres from the cadre system."
"When such news was published in the media, there was widespread outrage among the members of the service," he added.
Last month, the officials of the 25 cadres across the country carried out a series of peaceful protests over the Public Administration Reform Commission's recommendations.
The council raised concerns at an earlier meeting, where speakers stressed the need for experienced officers from each cadre to be assigned to their respective ministries.
Currently, administration cadre officers, who lack sector-specific expertise, are tasked with policy-making and decision-making, which hampers effective public service delivery.
At that time, speakers emphasised the need for each ministry to be managed by officials from the relevant cadre and called for a merit-based, quota-free pool for deputy secretary positions.
They also protested the commission's recommendation to remove education and health cadres from the cadre system as it may potentially cause chaos within the system.
