Officials from 25 cadres outside the administration cadre of Bangladesh Civil Service are scheduled to go on daylong work abstention in all departments and offices across the country today, protesting at the dominance of the administration cadre and suspension of 12 officials.
Under the banner of the Inter-Cadre Discrimination Elimination Council, the protesting officials on Saturday issued a one-week ultimatum and warned of a tougher movement if their demands for cadre-based ministry positions, merit-based promotion to deputy secretary and higher ranks, and equality for all cadres in the civil service were not met.
At an opinion sharing meeting with the media held at the Agriculture Information Service Conference room on Saturday, they also announced that emergency services, including hospital services, would be outside the purview of the strike.
The sharing meeting was held on the Public Administration Reform Commission鈥檚 full report made public on February 8 along with the final reports of five other reform commissions.
The protesting BCS officers are also scheduled to form human chains wearing black badges for one hour in front of their offices across the country today.聽
Since the reform commission disclosed its draft recommendations on December 17, civil servants under the administration cadre and the rest 25 cadres have faced off against each other, demanding their fair shares in the administrative services.
The public administration reform commission recommends that 50 per cent quota should be reserved for the non-administration cadre officials aspiring for deputy secretary posts, which the protesting 25-cadre officers have refuted.
While presenting the keynote paper at the Saturday programme, the council鈥檚 coordinator Muhammad Mofizur Rahman alleged that the reform commission was biased towards the administration cadre and that it had submitted the final report ignoring the suggestions and demands of the other cadres who had been voicing for the establishment of expertise-based ministries and the cancellation of quota system for deputy secretary posts.
鈥業f cadre officers work at the ministries related to their academic background it would be more people-friendly,鈥� he said, alleging that if distribution of power was balanced no one would have single authority in the administration.
Mofizur also called irrational, discriminatory and ill-intentioned the reform commission鈥檚 recommendation of 50 per cent quota reservation for the officers of 25 cadres outside administration aspiring to be deputy secretaries, saying that these cadres had around 60,000 officers under them. The recommendation meant 50 per cent quota reservation for just 5,500 administration cadre officers for the post, he added.聽聽聽
He also mentioned that 12 officers of the other cadres were suspended for a 鈥榯rifling鈥� cause as they were locked in altercations with the administration cadre officials on Facebook.
鈥楩or the same reasons no administration cadre officials have been suspended yet,鈥� he said.聽聽
Mofizur said that they would observe countrywide and daylong work abstention today and would hold human chains in front of their offices between 10:30am and 11:30am.
鈥業f our demands are not met within next one week we will go for a tougher movement,鈥� he added.
Earlier in December the council observed similar protests.