The draft of the Public Servants Act got the nod of approval from the Secretary’s Committee on Administrative Reform yesterday with a few suggestions, including provisions for a permanent pay commission for public servants, reward for good performance, disciplines and punishments.
The draft was approved at a meeting of the committee led by Cabinet Secretary M Musharraf Hossain Bhuiyan in the cabinet room of the Secretariat in the capital.
Refusing to comment on the issue, the cabinet secretary said: “It is the Public Administration Ministry’s business, not ours. I chaired the meeting as the committee’s chairman.”
Public Administration Ministry’s Senior Secretary Kamal Abdul Naser Chowdhury said: “The meeting approved the proposed draft with some observations. It will be sent to the prime minister for her approval and will be finalised for tabling at the cabinet meeting after her consent.”
He also refused to disclose any recommendations or provisions regarding the act saying: “We have given our suggestions to the government. It may be corrected again. The prime minister may make changes. So, the provisions of the draft should not be made public before she approves it.”
The senior secretary said the draft had been discussed and analysed, keeping relevant laws of and developed and neighbouring countries in consideration.
Earlier, the cabinet rejected three different drafts of the act and sent them back to the ministry on June 30.
The ministry officials were instructed to prepare a comprehensive act compiling the three drafts and place it before the cabinet again.
State Minister for Public Administration Ismat Ara Sadique told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday that the provisions of the three acts had been included in the latest draft to make it a comprehensive law.
“The provisions of establishing a permanent pay commission, disciplinary systems of the administration, recruiting, posting and promotion policy, reward for good performance and punishments for violation of rules, entry and retirement from service, service benefits were described in details in the draft,” she added.
