Admin cadre officials gather at secretariat protesting against recommendations

Officers of admin cadre have staged a showdown at the secretariat protesting against the quota system for promotion for deputy secretary posts.

The public administration reform commission recently proposed a 50:50 quota between the admin cadre and the other cadres for the deputy secretary posts in place of the current ratio of 75:25.

The admin cadre officials met Md Mokhles Ur Rahman, the senior secretary of the public administration ministry and also the member secretary of the reform commission, today to raise their concern.

Mokhles Ur Rahman assured the admin officials that the commission would sit with the officials before placing the final recommendation.

Earlier, the admin officials became vocal on social media demanding a separate ‘Bangladesh Administrative Service’ for them.

On Tuesday, the public administration reform commission laid out various recommendations while exchanging views with journalists. The commission is supposed to submit its report to the government within 31 December.

The recommendations include – promotions to the positions of deputy secretary to additional secretary through exams, allocation of 50 per cent of deputy secretary posts for admin cadre and the remaining 50 per cent for officials from other cadres and keeping education and health cadres out of the cadre system.

Alongside admin cadres, officials of education and health cadres also protested at the recommendations.

Education and health cadres rejected the commission’s recommendation about their exclusion from the cadre service.

Meanwhile, the officials of 25 cadres, under the banner of ‘Inter-Cadre Discrimination Elimination Council’ held a meeting at the city’s Segunbagicha.

The council announced programmes including work abstention demanding ministries are run by officials of relevant cadres and quota free deputy secretary posts.

In the wake of this situation, the admin officials became vocal on social media from yesterday.

The officials of the admin cadre gathered in front of secretariat’s building No. 3 around 11:30am today and later to the office of the reform commission chairman.

Later a delegation of officials including Bangladesh Administrative Service Association president Md Anowar Ullah and Dhaka’s deputy commissioner Tanvir Ahmed met commission’s member secretary Md Mokhles Ur Rahman and placed their demands.

Later, the secretary informed the journalists that the commission will hold dialogue with the Administrative Service Association again.

The association’s president said they did not hold any procession but gathered here in a disciplined manner to raise their demands.