Major reshuffle set for top administrative posts

Preparations are underway for another high-level reshuffle in Bangladesh’s public administration.

The contractual appointments of several top officials, including the Cabinet Secretary and the Senior Secretary to the Ministry of Public Administration, are set to expire this month.

Following the completion of his regular service tenure, the post of Secretary to the Ministry of Housing and Public Works fell vacant on 30 July. The position of Secretary to the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief also remains vacant due to a recent transfer.

Furthermore, the post of Secretary to the Prime Minister’s Office has remained unfilled since the new government assumed power. The Secretary to the Finance Division, Md. Khairuzzaman Mozumder, is also scheduled to retire in October.

As the recruitment process for these positions gets underway, a few more critical posts may also become vacant. Consequently, preparations have begun to appoint new officers and redistribute responsibilities at the apex of the administration.

In line with this, several transfers and postings are likely to occur at the Secretary and Additional Secretary levels, according to multiple sources within the Ministry of Public Administration.

Officials at the Ministry of Public Administration noted that there are discussions that certain officers whose contracts are expiring are likely to be brought into other key roles. Conversely, some believe that new appointments may instead be made from among regular senior officers of the administration cadre. However, the future landscape of these postings will largely depend on the final decisions taken by the government.

Commenting on the matter, officials from the Ministry of Public Administration stated that appointments at the secretarial level, including that of the Cabinet Secretary, are made at the highest levels of government. Therefore, orders are issued only after decisions are handed down from that level. Consequently, it remains difficult to predict beforehand who will get which post.

Meanwhile, on 29 July, Md. Saidur Rahman Khan was appointed as the new Secretary to the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC). Prior to this, he was serving as the Secretary to the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief.

On the same day, Md. Fazlur Rahman, Chairman of the Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation (BCIC), was appointed Secretary to the Bangladesh Public Service Commission (BPSC) upon his promotion to the rank of Secretary.

Administrative officials observed that a shift in a top position does not merely signify the transfer of a single officer; rather, it entails a sequence of appointments across multiple ministries and divisions. As a result, changes in a few key roles tend to trigger a widespread reshuffle across a significant portion of the administration.

Sweeping changes began in the public administration following the July 2024 mass uprising. After the interim government assumed office on 8 August of that year, many secretaries and senior officials who held crucial responsibilities during the ousted Awami League regime were made Officers on Special Duty (OSD), while numerous others were sent on compulsory retirement.

Concurrently, the process of posting new officers to key positions and appointing retired officers on a contractual basis commenced—a trend that continues to this day.

Over the past two years, major overhauls have taken place in multiple phases across posts of secretaries, divisional commissioners, deputy commissioners (DCs), and heads of various organisations.

In the first six months of the interim government alone, 14 Senior Secretaries and Secretaries, one Grade-1 official, and 19 Additional Secretaries were sent on compulsory retirement. During the same period, 23 Senior Secretaries and Secretaries, two Grade-1 officials, and 51 Additional Secretaries were made OSDs. This process persisted in the subsequent months.

Although the interim government initially cancelled various contractual appointments, it later began granting contractual terms to retired officers for critical positions, including secretarial roles. On 17 August 2024, five former Additional Secretaries from the 1982 batch were simultaneously appointed on a contractual basis across different ministries and divisions. A few of them were subsequently reassigned to different departments.

Just prior to the formation of the government by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) following its victory in the 12 February elections, changes occurred in two top administrative positions.

Cabinet Secretary Sheikh Abdur Rashid and Principal Secretary to the Chief Adviser M. Siraz Uddin Mia, both serving on contractual appointments, voluntarily stepped down within three days of each other. Around the same time, Nasimul Ghani, Senior Secretary to the Ministry of Home Affairs on a contractual basis, was appointed Cabinet Secretary. Former Secretary ABM Abdus Sattar was appointed Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister on a contractual basis.

Cabinet Secretary Nasimul Ghani’s contractual term is set to expire mid-month. Similarly, the contractual tenure of Md. Ehsanul Hoque, Senior Secretary to the Ministry of Public Administration, also concludes this month. Both are officers from the BCS 1982 batch.

The position of Cabinet Secretary represents the highest administrative post in the government. Consequently, discussions are abound within the Secretariat regarding who will be entrusted with this responsibility.

Likewise, there is intense interest within the administration over who will assume the post of Secretary to the Ministry of Public Administration, as transfers, promotions, and postings across the entire civil service are managed by this ministry.

Who ultimately receives these responsibilities—and whether the government maintains the current trend of contractual appointments or increases postings from among regular officers—remains the most widely discussed topic within the administration.

Contractual appointments in public administration are not a new phenomenon; they have occurred to varying degrees across different governments. Recently, however, the proportion of such appointments in top administrative positions has risen markedly, sparking widespread discussion both within and outside the administration.

According to data from the Ministry of Public Administration, there are currently 6,697 civil servants in the public service. Among them, 79 serve in Secretary or equivalent roles, of whom 23 are contractual appointees. This means that approximately 29 per cent of serving secretaries are appointed on contract.

Furthermore, 10 secretaries have been withdrawn from their respective posts and attached to the Ministry of Public Administration, despite having time remaining in their prescribed tenures. Additionally, one secretary has been made an OSD due to administrative reasons. At present, these officials hold no official duties or assignments.

Among those currently serving on a contractual basis are the Cabinet Secretary, the Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister, and the Senior Secretary to the Ministry of Public Administration.

Other contractually appointed officials include: Akhter Ahmed, Senior Secretary to the Election Commission Secretariat; ASM Saleh Ahmed, Senior Secretary to the Ministry of Land; Manzur Morshed Chowdhury, Senior Secretary to the Ministry of Home Affairs; Md. Neyamat Ullah Bhuiyan, Member (Senior Secretary) of the Planning Commission; Abdul Khaleque, Secretary to the Secondary and Higher Education Division; Md. Quamruzzaman Chowdhury, Secretary to the Health Services Division; Abdun Naser Khan, Secretary to the Ministry of Industries; Rafiqul I. Mohamed, Secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture; Md. Delwar Hossain, Secretary to the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock; Munshi Alauddin Al Azad, Secretary to the Ministry of Religious Affairs; Md. Shahidul Hasan, Secretary to the Local Government Division; Md. Abdus Sabur, Director General (Secretary) of the Department of Textiles; Md. Abdullah Al Baki, Chairman of the Land Appeal Board; AJM Salahuddin Nagari, Chairman of the Land Reform Board; Maksumul Hakim Chaudhury, Chairman of the National River Conservation Commission; CM Yusuf Hossain, Director General of the Bangladesh Haor and Wetland Development Department; Mohammad Mashiur Rahman, Executive Director of the Dhaka Transport Coordination Authority; AKM Fazluzzoha, Managing Director of the Community Clinic Health Assistance Trust; Md. Sarwar Alam, Press Secretary to the President; Safiz Uddin Ahmed, Waqf Administrator.

Additionally, Mohammad Zakaria, Director General of the NGO Affairs Bureau, is serving in a post equivalent to Secretary rank.

Several officers holding contractual appointments retired many years ago. The standard retirement age in government service is 59 years, extended by one year for freedom fighters.

Legally, there is no bar to contractual appointments following retirement, and the government may appoint anyone on a contract if deemed necessary. However, the practice of appointing officials who retired long ago to critical positions has stirred considerable debate within the Secretariat.

Proponents of contractual appointments offer arguments in their defence. They contend that many of these officers were deprived of timely promotions during the tenure of the previous regime. Although they subsequently received retroactive promotions, they were never granted the opportunity to serve in Secretary or equivalent roles in practice. Therefore, supporters argue that it is reasonable to utilise their expertise through limited contractual terms.

Critics, on the other hand, argue that contractual appointments were historically granted immediately following retirement based strictly on necessity. Nowadays, officers who retired many years ago are being brought back into regular administrative roles, which disrupts the organisational framework and the natural progression of promotions.

Speaking on the condition of anonymity, an Additional Secretary told Prothom Alo that many of these officers, who were away from the administration for long periods, subsequently received retroactive promotions and financial benefits.

According to him, if the government wished to utilise their skills, it could form an “advisory council” or assign them to special tasks.

The additional secretary pointed out that increasing contractual appointments to regular secretarial posts creates complications within the administrative structure. At the same time, it shrinks promotion opportunities for regular serving officers, fostering frustration among them.

The official added that the experience of conducting administrative affairs through excessive contractual appointments at the top during the interim government was not positive, yet the same trend persists.

The financial cost associated with contractual appointments is also coming under scrutiny. Under the 2015 National Pay Scale, the basic monthly salary for a Secretary is Tk 78,000, while that of a Senior Secretary is Tk 82,000. In addition, these posts carry various facilities, including housing allowances, official residences, and full-time official vehicles. Consequently, an increase in contractual appointments directly escalates government expenditure.

Speaking recently to Prothom Alo, public administration expert and former Professor of Public Administration at Dhaka University, Salahuddin M. Aminuzzaman, remarked that contractual appointments could be made on a limited scale to retain highly talented individuals with specialised expertise.

However, the number of such appointments should under no circumstances be excessive, he added.

According to him, an overabundance of contractual appointments creates administrative friction and deepens disappointment among lower-tier officers awaiting promotion.