The Inter-Cadre Discrimination Elimination Council on Saturday issued a seven-day ultimatum demanding that the 50 per cent quota for the administration cadre in the deputy secretary pool, as recommended by the Public Administration Reform Commission, be scrapped.
The council also warned that non-administration cadre officials would initiate protest programmes, including work abstentions, if their demand was not met.
At a press conference held at the Dhaka Reporters Unity auditorium in the capital Dhaka, the council leaders also demanded that the suspensions and departmental actions against approximately 14 non-administration cadre officials be revoked within the ultimatum period.
The council is a platform representing 25 cadre services, excluding administration, police, and foreign cadres.
Md Shawkat Hossen Molla, the council鈥檚 convener and former member secretary of the Bangladesh Civil Service General Education Cadre Association, read out a keynote address in which he criticised the recommendations of the Public Administration Reform Commission for failing to reflect the aspirations of the 25 cadre officials.
He stated that although all cadres performed administrative roles to some extent, the proposed separate administrative service would further empower administration cadre officials.
鈥楾his proposal is illogical and unnecessary. Facilitating a particular cadre with a quota contradicts the spirit of the July-August uprising,鈥� Shawkat said.
On behalf of the council, he also condemned the suspension of the 14 non-administration cadre officials, arguing that they were denied the opportunity to defend themselves.
鈥楽ome administration cadre officials who have posted derogatory comments on social media have been spared from departmental action,鈥� he alleged.
Council coordinator professor Mohammad Mofizur Rahman, one of the suspended officials, along with public works cadre official Md Jamilur Rahman, health cadre official Mohammad Nyamat Hossen, agriculture cadre officials Md Mominul Haque and Fateha Noor, and livestock cadre official Muhammad Ahsan Habib, among others, were present at the press conference.