POBNEWS24, Dhaka, Nov 23, 2022 : The Secretariat has a rule of reserving one-third of the post of Assistant Secretary for Administrative and Personal Officers (AO-POs). But there is reluctance among bureaucrats to follow this policy. They have been going door to door of the Public Administration Ministry for a long time with the demand to reserve the post of Assistant Secretary (Non-cadre) at a proportional rate. Finally, on April 25, the Ministry of Public Administration formed an 11-member committee to give an opinion on the reservation of the post of Assistant Secretary (non-cadre).
After that almost 9 months have passed but no opinion has been given in this regard. As a result, there is anger and dissatisfaction among the demoted non-cadre officers.
The committee formed to give opinion on the reservation of the post of Assistant Secretary (Non-cadre) is meeting today on Wednesday. The meeting will be held under the chairmanship of Additional Secretary (APD) Abdus Sabur Mandal of the Ministry of Public Administration in his office room in the Secretariat. Earlier, the meeting of this committee was held on May 30 and September 21 but could not give any opinion. The President (then Additional Secretary, APD) Anichur Rahman Mia has also been transferred. Now two representatives of the Prime Minister’s Office and the Cabinet Department have been added to solve this problem.
According to the sources of the Ministry of Public Administration, about 2,500 AO-POs are working in various ministries and departments. There are only 267 non-cadre assistant secretaries, 72 senior assistant secretaries and 9 deputy secretaries for promotion of these officers, which is less than required. As a result, most of the AO-POs are retiring after working in the same position for a long time. As a result, their motivation is getting lost. Apart from this, there are only 9 posts of Deputy Secretary for 72 Senior Assistant Secretaries. As a result, almost half a hundred officials are not getting promoted even after qualifying as Deputy Secretary.
In this regard, the chairman of the meeting, the additional secretary of the APD division of the Ministry of Public Administration, Abdus Sabur Mondal, told Kal Kantha last night, ‘Everyone’s opinion will be taken at the meeting. Then the decision will be made. Because the committee wants a permanent solution to this problem. And so that there is no movement, the solution is forever. For this, I am moving slowly with a little understanding. I don’t want any controversy about it again. ‘
In this regard, on Tuesday, hundreds of AO-POs of the Secretariat met with the senior secretary of the Ministry of Public Administration and most of the members of the committee including the chairman of the post reservation committee. Requested to settle the matter in today’s meeting.
Many of the Administrative and Personal Officers (AOPs) aspiring to be promoted to the post of Assistant Secretary told Kal Kantha that the committee had met before; But nothing worked. They said, ‘There was no need for such a meeting to preserve the existing 267 posts of Assistant Secretary. Only documents are stored with approval. But now only time is being wasted in the name of meeting. Now I have requested the committee members to resolve the matter quickly. The committee members assured us. ‘
Bangladesh Secretariat Assistant Secretary and Senior Assistant Secretary (non-cadre) Kalyan Forum leaders told Kalyan Kantha, ‘We have been visiting the Ministry of Public Administration from door to door for a long time to reserve the posts according to availability. Although the Minister of State for Public Administration and the Secretary have ordered to take necessary measures, the concerned officials have left the files on various pretexts. There is dissatisfaction among non-cadre officers. ‘
