Silent resentment and growing tension have placed the country’s administration in a straitjacket, leading to stagnation and discontent at various levels.
A lack of coordination has interrupted government operations, with officials at the Secretariat voicing their demands regarding promotions, cadre discrimination and dearness allowance.
Meanwhile, governmental moves such as forced retirement, making officials OSDs (officers on special duty) and identifying Awami League accomplices are underway.
This tension has been further fuelled by retrospective promotions, leading to stagnation in government operations.
Reports indicate that the administration has not regained its desired momentum even seven months after last year’s political shift due to a lack of coordination.
Due to this lack of coordination, several secretary-level appointments across ministries were revoked shortly after being made, while appointments of deputy commissioners and upazila nirbahi officers in key offices and field administrations had to be cancelled, leading to stagnation at the Secretariat and district-upazila administration levels.
Litany of demands
Sources say discontent within the administration escalated over the recommendations of the Public Administration Reform Commission.
The Bangladesh Administrative Service Association opposed the recommendations regarding the promotion of administration cadre deputy secretaries.
Meanwhile, the Inter-Cadre Discrimination Resolution Council, formed with officials from 25 other cadres, rejected the “vague and anti-public proposals” of the commission, advocating for the cancellation of DS pool quotas and demanding equal opportunities for all cadres.
Additionally, organizations such as the Bangladesh Civil Service (Family Planning) Association and retired government employees voiced multiple demands, including a 20% dearness allowance for first-to-10th-grade officials and a 30% allowance for 11th-to-20th-grade employees.
The BCS (Statistical) Cadre Association strongly protested a recommendation in the commission's report that excludes the statistics cadre from the proposed restructured civil services. The association said this recommendation was both “shortsighted and alarming,” as it sought to “eliminate” a critical professional cadre established in 1980.
Similarly, the BCS Information Association expressed concerns about the proposal to merge three distinct groups – general, program and news – into a unified Bangladesh information service.
The association warned that since the work nature of these three groups differed significantly, merging them would render the service ineffective. The association also opposed the integration of Bangladesh Betar (Radio) with the BCS (Information-General) cadre, arguing that it would neither improve work efficiency nor serve the public interest. Instead, it suggested forming a separate "broadcast service" for Bangladesh Betar and Bangladesh Television.
Meanwhile, government pensioners have three demands: A fixed medical allowance of Tk10,000 due to rising healthcare costs and the establishment of a separate medical unit for senior citizens in all hospitals; elimination of pension disparities for individuals in the same position performing the same work; and reducing the pension restoration period from 15 years to 10 years for those who surrender their full pension.
Despite being eligible, at least 1,000 administration officials are frustrated over delays in their promotions from deputy secretary to joint secretary and from senior assistant secretary to deputy secretary. Currently, 574 officials are eligible for promotion to joint secretary, while 319 administration cadre officials and 223 others from different cadres have applied for DS pool inclusion.
In this context, the government last month granted retrospective promotions to 764 officials.
On February 9, the Ministry of Public Administration issued a notification promoting 764 retired officials – who claimed to have been deprived under the Awami League regime – to positions of deputy secretary, joint secretary, additional secretary, Grade-1 and secretary.
The ministry said half of their pending payments would be settled this fiscal year, with the remainder to be paid next year.
These retrospective promotions have also led to dissatisfaction, with current officials arguing that despite fulfilling their responsibilities, they have been subjected to extreme discrimination regarding their rights.
They claim that instead of addressing their promotion-related issues, retrospective promotions have introduced yet another level of inequality, causing discontent across the Secretariat and district-upazila administration.
Decisions made under the current administration have exposed leadership weaknesses, which persist to this day.
Initially, DC appointments created significant turmoil, even leading to physical altercations among officials.
Eventually, following protests, the appointments of nine DCs were revoked. Other instances of administrative disorder include the cancellation of promotions and appointments of several top officials, notably of the chairman of the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation, the food secretary and six members of the Bangladesh Public Service Commission.
However, despite such administrative turmoil, economists suggest that the country’s economy is showing signs of recovery.
Export growth exceeded 10% in the past seven months, remittances hit a record high and forex reserves, which had dropped to $18 billion, have climbed back to $22 billion.
Though reserves slightly dipped due to ACU payments, confidence in the banking sector has improved, and inflation has somewhat decreased with support from friendly nations.
However, much work remains to be done, and public expectations from the government are high.
Analysts warn that uncontrolled price hikes continue to cause severe distress, while economic instability and security concerns remain pressing issues.
Vandalism, arson and violence against women around the country have further intensified public anxiety.
Commenting on the situation, multiple officials told this correspondent, on condition of anonymity, that the administration remained the same as before – the only difference was the new people in charge.
A former Cabinet secretary said political influence should not interfere with administrative functions. “Evaluating any activity based on political considerations is unjust, as it undermines the merit of deserving officials.”
