Government officials belonging to 25 Bangladesh Civil Service cadres pressing for the elimination of inter-cadre discriminations on Saturday iterated that promotions in civil services must be based on merits and efficiency instead of the quota system, mostly enjoyed by administration cadre officers.
They placed the demand at a roundtable organised by the Inter-Cadre Council to Eliminate Discrimination at the Purta Bhaban in the capital.
The platform representing officials from all BCS cadres other than administration, police and foreign affairs also demanded the implementation of an order for the creation of the Senior Services Pool issued on March 1, 1979.
Retired government officials, university teachers, journalists, lawyers and members of the council participated in the roundtable.
One of the conveners of the council, Mofizur Rahman, said that the provision, issued through a gazette notification on February 10, 1998, of applying 75 per cent quotas only on the administrative cadre while filling up deputy secretary posts was 鈥榮everely discriminatory鈥�.
The High Court on February 13, 2002, declared the February 10, 1998 gazette 鈥榠llegal鈥�. However, an Appellate Division bench, on May 24, 2010, said that the 1998 gazette was legitimate.
The council condemns the move, which happened on November 14, 2018, that revoked the Service (Reorganisation and Conditions) Act 1975 and allowed promotion of the officials like deputy secretaries and seniors without facing any tests or Superior Selection Board, Mofizur said.
Iqbal Ahmed Chowdhury, a retired director at the Department of Agricultural Extension, complained that government officials, except those from the administration cadre, could seldom be promoted beyond 4th grade.
Syed Mahfuz Ahmed, a retired additional chief engineer at the Public Works Department, said that administration cadre officials, instead of appropriate candidates from other services, take part in technical training and secure degrees abroad but they cannot translate their learning into their jobs properly.
Historian Professor Mohammad Golam Rabbani at Jahangirnagar University demanded that the interim government must eliminate discrimination in public administration and honour the spirits of the student-mass uprising 2024.
Supreme Court lawyer Abdur Rahman cited several Articles including Article 19 and Article 27 of the Constitution and said that discrimination in the civil service officials must be eliminated.
Bangla daily Prothom Alo joint editor Sohrab Hassan said that deprived civil service officials should take to the streets if their demands remained unmet.
Ganosamhati Andolan chief coordinator Zonayed Saki, retired professor Abdus Samad and columnist MA Aziz, among others, also spoke.
