Public administration: How long without a secretary

Although the public administration ministry is very important, this ministry is being run without any secretary for 16 days.

The interim government is yet to take a decision in this regard.

As a result, a stagnation has emerged in daily operations. The question is how many days the ministry will run like this.

After the student-led uprising, the interim government appointed senior secretary Mokhlesur Rahman as the public administration secretary.

Although he was initially appointed on a two-year contract, he was transferred to the Planning Commission on 21 September.

Since then, the position of public administration secretary has remained vacant.

There is a buzz in the secretariat that, with the national election approaching, intense tussles behind-the-scenes are taking place over the post of public administration secretary.

Supporters of two political parties, and officials loyal to political parties want someone of their choice to occupy the position, as this ministry oversees key decisions such as the transfers and promotions of deputy commissioners and other field-level officials.

The 13th national parliamentary elections are going to be held after five months in February. So the person, who will be appointed now, will be in charge during the election.

There are also discussions within the secretariat that, fearing controversy, many senior officials are reluctant to take up this post.

Some believe that a secretary on contract in another ministry could be transferred to the public administration ministry, which has sparked objections from regular officials.

They argue that the public administration secretary should be appointed from among regular officers, not through contract-based appointments.

Overall, the interim government’s indecision over this crucial position has become quite evident.

After Mokhlesur’s transfer, there were talks that a new secretary would be appointed as soon as chief adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus returned from the United Nations General Assembly session.

He returned to the country on 2 October, yet a week later, the post of public administration secretary remains vacant.

The public administration secretary is one of the most influential positions in the administration. After the cabinet secretary and the principal secretary, this post holds the greatest significance. With the national election approaching, the importance of this ministry has increased even further.

On Wednesday, inquiries at the public administration ministry revealed that even the officials are uncertain about who will be appointed to the secretary post and when. Transfers, appointments, and promotions of field administration officers are nearly at a standstill. Some financial issues are also pending. For the time being, only one additional secretary is handling routine duties.

A senior official at the public administration ministry, speaking to Prothom Alo on condition of anonymity, said that they hope the appointment to the public administration secretary post will be made soon. However, they could not specify any exact timeline, as the matter of the appointment is not in their hands.

It was not possible to contact Salehuddin Ahmed, economic adviser and chair of the public administration committee, or any other member of the committee regarding when the public administration secretary will be appointed.