Ministers, MPs write letters for promotion of bureaucrats

Nine ministers, state ministers and parliamentary standing committee members have recently given demi official (DO) to promote 10 admin cadre officials.

A minister has given a DO letter in favour of an officer to promote him to the post of secretary while a minister has issued DO letters for promoting a deputy secretary to the post of joint secretary.

The DOs have been sent to public administration ministry state minister Farhad Hossain and senior secretary Mesbah Uddin Chowdhury.

Ministers, who have written DO letters, are liberation war affairs minister AKM Mozammel Haque, industries minister Nurul Majid Mahmud Humayun, agriculture minister Abdur Razzaque, textiles and jute minister Ghulam Dastgir Gazi, state minister for youth and sports Zahid Ahsan and state minister for information and communication Technology Zunaid Ahmed Palak.

Disaster management and relief ministry-related parliamentary standing committee member Solaiman Haque Joarder also gave a DO letter for promotion of an officer.

Apart from this, in June and July, minister of liberation war affairs AKM Mozammel Haque, minister of state for shipping Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury and a member of parliamentary standing committee related to the ministry of liberation war affairs Shajahan Khan gave DO letters for the promotion of two officers, which was reported in Prothom Alo.

Former Cabinet Secretary Ali Imam Majumder and former Rector of Bangladesh Public Administration Training Center (PATC) Abdul Awal Majumder told Prothom Alo that giving DOs to ministers like this and approaching ministers to take DOs are not legal.

Ministers take oath saying that they will not act out of affection or ill-will. But these DO letters on behalf of an officer or showing partiality to an officer, is contrary to oath.

The Government Servants (Conduct) Rules state that no Government servant shall directly or indirectly approach any Member of Parliament or any other private person with any request or proposal to intervene on his behalf.

But giving DO or approaching ministers to get DO has not abated. Rather, it has increased. The reason is that there is a big promotion from deputy secretary to joint secretary in the offing, a few days ahead of the upcoming National Assembly elections. It's time for the retirement of some secretaries. There too the government will appoint trusted officers. Meanwhile, ministers and members of parliament are issuing DOs to promote officers of their choice.

Senior secretary of the Ministry of Public Administration Mesbah Uddin Chowdhury told Prothom Alo that semi-official paper is a means of communication. The ministers drew the attention of the Ministry of Public Administration through this medium. The attention of the Ministry is attracted. However, the rules of public administration should be followed in the promotion of officials. There is no way to go beyond it.

An analysis of the eight DOs issued by the ministers shows that they have mentioned those whom they have requested for promotion as honest, competent, efficient and meritorious. In a few cases, their reputation in the workplace is discussed. In some cases, the officials are mentioned as former workers of Chhatra League, family members of liberation war supporters and loyalists of the government.

Here also the question arises as to why DO is needed for promotion of honest, competent and efficient officers. Why would the minister highlight the identity of a party organisation worker and request for promotion?

Former cabinet secretary Ali Imam Majumder told Prothom Alo on Tuesday that the DOs given by the ministers amounts to lobbying. He referred to the statement given to Prothom Alo on 27 July as a new statement. In his earlier speech, he said that the official on whose behalf the minister and members of parliament gave the letter should be brought under punishment. Because he is the one who advocated for sending the letter. He also said that ministers and members of parliament should be banned from giving DO in this way. It tarnishes the image of the administration.

One of the officers who have been given DO for promotion is Kamrun Nahar, Additional Secretary, Liberation War Affairs Ministry.

Minister of Liberation War Affairs Mozammel Haque gave a DO to promote her to the top step (Grade-1) of the salary structure of government employees on June 6.

Director of a project of the National Liberation Fighter Council (Deputy Secretary) Nurul Amin was promoted to the post of joint secretary by the DO on July 13. Apart from this, on June 6, the Minister of Liberation War Affairs issued a DO requesting the promotion of Muktijoddha Kalyan Trust managing director SM Mahabubur Rahman to the post of secretary.

Regarding the matter, Minister Mozammel Haque (last July 27) told Prothom Alo, 'He (Mahabubur) has done a good job there. For that I recommended his name. But it is not that he must be promoted by any means.

Agriculture Minister Abdur Razzaque gave a DO to promote Saiful Islam, deputy secretary of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, to the post of joint secretary on July 9. He mentioned that Saiful Islam was an active worker of Fazlul Haque Hall Branch Chhatra League during his studies at Dhaka University.

The Agriculture Minister is on a visit to India. Saiful Islam was asked whether promotions are done with the DO of the ministers. He told Prothom Alo that he does not know how effective this is.

Industries Minister Nurul Majid Mahmud Humayun gave a DO to promote Mominur Rashid, Deputy Secretary of the Ministry of Industry to the post of Joint Secretary on July 4. Mominur Rashid told Prothom Alo that he knows about the DO. When asked how useful it is in the promotion of DOs of ministers, he said that he did not know about this.

Mominur Rashid said, "I cannot comment on this matter."

State Minister for Youth and Sports Zahid Ahsan issued a DO to promote Director of Youth Development Department Abdul Akher from Deputy Secretary to Joint Secretary on June 2. State Minister for Information and Communication Technology Zunaid Ahmed gave a DO to promote Bangladesh Hi-Tech Park Authority Managing Director (Additional Secretary) Mohammad Rezaul Karim to Grade-1 on June 7.

Textiles and Jute Minister Golam Dastgir Gazi issued a DO to promote Ranjit Kumar Das, Additional Secretary of the Liberation War Affairs Ministry, to Grade-1 on May 29. Deputy Secretary of the Ministry of Industry. On June 12, the member of the Standing Committee related to the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief, Solaiman Haque Joardar, recommended the promotion of Moniruzzaman to the post of Joint Secretary.

It appears that the minister of another ministry is giving the DO by describing the skills and qualifications of the official of one ministry. According to an official of the Ministry of Public Administration who did not want to be named, officials procure DOs from ministers using their personal connections or through other means. That is why it is seen that the DOs are given to the officials of one ministry by the ministers of other ministries.

Attempts were made to contact some ministers and state ministers over the phone to find out why the ministers gave DOs. However, only State Minister Zahid Ahsan responded. He told Prothom Alo that he could not deny the request of Abdul Akher, Director of Youth Development Department. But he feels that DO does not affect promotion. Because, in the case of promotion, the officials have to fulfill the prescribed conditions.

The state minister said, "I realise I'm being humiliated and embarrassed. But I can't deny a request. It is considered here who belongs to whom.

Officials of the Ministry of Public Administration say that for promotion to the post of secretary, an officer must have two years of experience in the post of additional secretary. Annual Confidential Request (ACR), intelligence agency reports, political ideology, career reputation, skills and qualifications are taken into consideration. Officials are supposed to be promoted after fulfilling similar conditions for the post of joint secretary.

PATC's former rector AKM Abdul Awal Majumder told Prothom Alo that lobbying has increased due to political division. Promotion is given on that consideration on who belongs to which camp. He said that the DO letter is being sent because the government officials go to the minister. This is creating chaos in the administration. No one will go to anyone if the promotion procedure is followed by 100% rules.