Rampant promotions �overturn� civil bureaucracy pyramid

civil admin

The bureaucracy in the two-year-old Awami League (AL)-led 14-Party Alliance Government has become a ‘top-heavy’ administration following a record number of promotions, according to sources in the Ministry of Public Administration and the Cabinet Division.
Another reason for this is failure in reforms despite introduction of a new pay scale for all government employees. As if this were not enough, the government will apparently promote another batch of officials, said the sources.
The civil bureaucracy no longer resembles a pyramid due to non-implementation of recommendations of the administrative reforms committee. The civil administration has also been split into two—pro-government and anti-government bureaucrats.
The ruling party in its election manifesto promised to undertake reforms in the bureaucracy by introducing e-governance in the administration, with a view to developing ‘Digital Bangladesh’. However, the initiative has only been implemented partially.
According to Awami League’s manifesto, “The administration will be free of politicisation and be pro-people. Efficiency, seniority and merit will be the basis of appointment and promotion in public service. Administrative reforms, right to information, and e-governance, will be introduced. A permanent Pay Commission will be set up for civil servants.”
Sources said the public administration ministry has failed to introduce the Performance-Based Evaluation System (PBES) to evaluate the annual performance report (APR) of Class-1 government officials. This has, however, been introduced in some areas on a pilot basis.
“Although career planning of government officials, e-filing and e-noting systems have been introduced in some ministries, most of them are yet to implement the system,” the sources said.
The ministry has failed to introduce the planned civil service award. A ‘resource person pool’ comprising experts, with the aim to build an efficient administration, could not be established either, the sources said.
The ministries concerned are yet to build a database on their cadre officials, with information on corruption and discipline. According to the sources, the public administration ministry is trying to enact a new law—Civil Service Act—to protect bureaucrats. However, the Cabinet has already approved of the proposed Act in principle.
Dhiraj Kumar Nath, former adviser to the caretaker government, said the government should bring reforms in the bureaucracy to build a ‘corruption-free’ administration, as they have announced an ‘attractive pay scale’ for government employees. “The government can't influence the civil administration by promoting politically loyal officials by superseding and depriving senior officials,” he added.
“It’ll be impossible to establish an efficient, neutral, independent and professional bureaucracy in the country until the Public Service Act is enacted,” he claimed.
Nath said the government should also amend the existing Public Service Conduct Rules, delete the clause of the existing rule that allows forced retirement after completion of 25 years of service, and erase the provision from the Anti-corruption Commission Act that allows for permission to be sought from a higher officer if corruption charges are levelled against a government official.
Cabinet secretary Mohammad Shafiul Alam told The Independent that they are trying to bring reforms in the civil bureaucracy, but the process was slow. “We and the principal secretary have asked the public administration ministry to prepare a ‘career planning’ to rationalise the structure of the bureaucracy,” he said.
He admitted that the pyramid of the civil administration has overturned. “We're trying to straighten it up, but it'll need at least five more years,” he said.
“We've introduced the Annual Performance Appraisal (APA) system in the bureaucracy based on ministries, and it will be introduced to the officials in the near future,” he added.
Dr Kamal Abdul Naser Chowdhury, senior secretary to the public administration ministry, told this correspondent that they have already started the process of reforming the civil bureaucracy, but it will take time.
“We've already started a career-planning exercise to rationalise the structure of the civil administration,” he said.
Chowdhury also said they have created at least 90,000 posts in the civil bureaucracy in a year.
“We've already recruited 8,312 Class-1 officials through the BCS exams in the last fiscal year (2014-15) and 4,000 more officials would soon be recruited through the same exams,” he added.

 

 

In 2015, the government promoted 958 officers to ranks like deputy secretary, joint secretary, additional secretary, secretary, and senior secretary—in many cases bypassing seniority.
A total of 74 senior secretaries, secretaries and acting secretaries are now working, against 74 duty posts. In all, 387 additional secretaries are working against 110 posts; 897 joint secretaries are working in different ministries and divisions, against 341 sanctioned posts; and 1,300 deputy secretaries are working, against 828 sanctioned posts.
Owing to rampant promotions, the public administration ministry is trying to absorb officials by assigning them to the same rooms of the ministries and divisions concerned. However, the authorities have failed to absorb most of the officials. They have also created 230 supernumerary posts for accommodating the deputy secretaries.
Following this massive promotion spree, most of the sections of different ministries and divisions are lying vacant. Senior assistant secretaries are working as section officers in different sections of ministries. They mainly prepare files and issue gazette notifications after getting the files approved by higher authorities. A number of posts in this field are also lying vacant due to shortage of officials.
According to sources, 275,964 posts in several sections in the civil administration are lying vacant. As a result, the central and field administrations are becoming ‘stagnant’, causing acute suffering for the public. There are 1,405,524 posts in the civil bureaucracy now.
For developing a more dynamic administration, the previous governments had formed several committees, including the Anam Committee, the Nurunnabi Committee, the Shamsul Haque Committee, and the Public Administration Reform Committee (PARC) of the World Bank. But the recommendations of these committees were never implemented.
In 2007, a Cabinet committee on administrative reforms and good governance, headed by chief adviser Dr Fakhruddin Ahmed, had taken the initiative to reform the civil administration.

 

 

Rampant promotions �overturn� civil bureaucracy pyramid

civil admin

The bureaucracy in the two-year-old Awami League (AL)-led 14-Party Alliance Government has become a top-heavy administration following a record number of promotions, according to sources in the Ministry of Public Administration and the Cabinet Division. Another reason for this is failure in reforms despite introduction of a new pay scale for all government employees. As if this were not enough, the government will apparently promote another batch of officials, said the sources. The civil bureaucracy no longer resembles a pyramid due to non-implementation of recommendations of the administrative reforms committee. The civil administration has also been split into twopro-government and anti-government bureaucrats. The ruling party in its election manifesto promised to undertake reforms in the bureaucracy by introducing e-governance in the administration, with a view to developing Digital Bangladesh. However, the initiative has only been implemented partially. According to Awami Leagues manifesto, The administration will be free of politicisation and be pro-people. Efficiency, seniority and merit will be the basis of appointment and promotion in public service. Administrative reforms, right to information, and e-governance, will be introduced. A permanent Pay Commission will be set up for civil servants. Sources said the public administration ministry has failed to introduce the Performance-Based Evaluation System (PBES) to evaluate the annual performance report (APR) of Class-1 government officials. This has, however, been introduced in some areas on a pilot basis. Although career planning of government officials, e-filing and e-noting systems have been introduced in some ministries, most of them are yet to implement the system, the sources said. The ministry has failed to introduce the planned civil service award. A resource person pool comprising experts, with the aim to build an efficient administration, could not be established either, the sources said. The ministries concerned are yet to build a database on their cadre officials, with information on corruption and discipline. According to the sources, the public administration ministry is trying to enact a new lawCivil Service Actto protect bureaucrats. However, the Cabinet has already approved of the proposed Act in principle. Dhiraj Kumar Nath, former adviser to the caretaker government, said the government should bring reforms in the bureaucracy to build a corruption-free administration, as they have announced an attractive pay scale for government employees. The government cant influence the civil administration by promoting politically loyal officials by superseding and depriving senior officials, he added. Itll be impossible to establish an efficient, neutral, independent and professional bureaucracy in the country until the Public Service Act is enacted, he claimed. Nath said the government should also amend the existing Public Service Conduct Rules, delete the clause of the existing rule that allows forced retirement after completion of 25 years of service, and erase the provision from the Anti-corruption Commission Act that allows for permission to be sought from a higher officer if corruption charges are levelled against a government official. Cabinet secretary Mohammad Shafiul Alam told The Independent that they are trying to bring reforms in the civil bureaucracy, but the process was slow. We and the principal secretary have asked the public administration ministry to prepare a career planning to rationalise the structure of the bureaucracy, he said. He admitted that the pyramid of the civil administration has overturned. Were trying to straighten it up, but itll need at least five more years, he said. Weve introduced the Annual Performance Appraisal (APA) system in the bureaucracy based on ministries, and it will be introduced to the officials in the near future, he added. Dr Kamal Abdul Naser Chowdhury, senior secretary to the public administration ministry, told this correspondent that they have already started the process of reforming the civil bureaucracy, but it will take time. Weve already started a career-planning exercise to rationalise the structure of the civil administration, he said. Chowdhury also said they have created at least 90,000 posts in the civil bureaucracy in a year. Weve already recruited 8,312 Class-1 officials through the BCS exams in the last fiscal year (2014-15) and 4,000 more officials would soon be recruited through the same exams, he added. In 2015, the government promoted 958 officers to ranks like deputy secretary, joint secretary, additional secretary, secretary, and senior secretaryin many cases bypassing seniority. A total of 74 senior secretaries, secretaries and acting secretaries are now working, against 74 duty posts. In all, 387 additional secretaries are working against 110 posts; 897 joint secretaries are working in different ministries and divisions, against 341 sanctioned posts; and 1,300 deputy secretaries are working, against 828 sanctioned posts. Owing to rampant promotions, the public administration ministry is trying to absorb officials by assigning them to the same rooms of the ministries and divisions concerned. However, the authorities have failed to absorb most of the officials. They have also created 230 supernumerary posts for accommodating the deputy secretaries. Following this massive promotion spree, most of the sections of different ministries and divisions are lying vacant. Senior assistant secretaries are working as section officers in different sections of ministries. They mainly prepare files and issue gazette notifications after getting the files approved by higher authorities. A number of posts in this field are also lying vacant due to shortage of officials. According to sources, 275,964 posts in several sections in the civil administration are lying vacant. As a result, the central and field administrations are becoming stagnant, causing acute suffering for the public. There are 1,405,524 posts in the civil bureaucracy now. For developing a more dynamic administration, the previous governments had formed several committees, including the Anam Committee, the Nurunnabi Committee, the Shamsul Haque Committee, and the Public Administration Reform Committee (PARC) of the World Bank. But the recommendations of these committees were never implemented. In 2007, a Cabinet committee on administrative reforms and good governance, headed by chief adviser Dr Fakhruddin Ahmed, had taken the initiative to reform the civil administration.