Akbar Ali Khan terms quota reform logical

Reservation for freedom fighters in government jobs should be reviewed as such facility is contrary to the the country's constitution, thinks former cabinet secretary Akbar Ali Khan.

Dwelling on the students' demonstration seeking reform in quota system, he said the jobseekers feel aggrieved when they are deprived of civil service due to quota system, after more than two years of efforts required for recruitment.

“Our constitution provides for quota only for backward segment of the population. Freedom fighters’ quota should be applicable to benefits for freedom fighters injured in war and also insolvent ones,” Akbar Ali Khan, himself a freedom fighter, observed in an interview with Prothom Alo's AKM Zakaria.

The former bureaucrat maintained that the core principle of the constitution is to hire manpower for the public sector based on merit. “Our government must not provide the quota facility to anyone having a freedom fighter's certificate,” he insisted.

Citing India’s quota system for Dalit (lower cast) community, he said,  "if any Dalit member avails of the privilege, his/her children are no longer entitled to it. It is called ‘Creamy Layer’ in India."

He pointed out that if the Bangladesh government follows the Indian model, the number of candidates seeking facility under the freedom fighters' quota will come down.

"There is no other country in the world that has such a system," added Akbar Ali Khan, a former caretaker government adviser.

Describing district quota as ‘no-longer necessary’ he said, there are 258 types of quota in the country while it was only 35 when Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman introduced the system in 1972.

Akbar Ali Khan recalled that district quota was not introduced as a permanent arrangement. "It was expected to be lifted within 10-15 years."

“Since the quality of education in all the districts and our transportation and communication have improved significantly, the district quota is no longer relevant,” Akbar Ali Khan elucidated.

“The number of types of quota will come down to 38 from 258 if only the district quota is abolished. However, the quota for women, indigenous and people with disability should remain,” he said.

* This report is written by Farjana Liakat, based on text of an interview originally published in Prothom Alo print edition