Admin cadre officials give 48-hour ultimatum to remove reform commission chair

The BCS (Administration) Welfare Multipurpose Cooperative Society has demanded the resignation of Public Administration Reform Commission Chairman Abdul Muyeed Chowdhury within 48 hours.
ABM Sattar, president of the organisation, warned that if the commission chairman did not resign, they know "how to implement it".
He was speaking at a protest programme at the BIAM Foundation auditorium in Dhaka. The event was jointly organised by the Bangladesh Administrative Service Association and the BCS (Administration) Welfare Multipurpose Cooperative Society Limited to counter "deep conspiracies aimed at destabilising the country by misdirecting public administration reforms".
Sattar also called for a mass rally in Dhaka on January 4 as part of ongoing protests by administration cadre officers opposing the proposed reduction of their share deputy secretary positions.
Addressing the protest, Mashihur Rahman, an officer from the 1985 batch of the administration cadre, said, "The July uprising started to abolish quotas. Why should quotas exist in the promotion of administration cadre officers? The reform commission should abolish this quota. However, instead of doing so, they are considering increasing the quota, which is completely irrational. Officers cannot expect justice from this commission, and therefore, we demand their resignation."
A senior secretary of the land ministry, ASM Saleh Ahmed, said, "In the past, various reform commissions have made numerous proposals, but no irrational proposal has ever been implemented. If this commission makes similar unreasonable recommendations, they too will not be implemented."
Dhaka's Deputy Commissioner, Tanvir Ahmed, said, "The authority of administration cadre officers at the district and upazila levels was curtailed during military rule. Now, similar conspiracies are being hatched at the central level, which is unacceptable. We demand quota-free promotions."
Currently, 75 percent of deputy secretary promotions are allocated to administration cadre officers, while 25 percent are reserved for other cadres. Recently, the reform commission proposed allocating half of that to administration and half to the rest.
Administration cadre officers have labelled this proposal as discriminatory, irrational, and conspiratorial. On Sunday, they demonstrated at the secretariat, claiming that if the recommendation was implemented, their promotion quota will decrease, sparking widespread dissatisfaction.
On the other hand, officers from 25 other cadres have been agitating for promotions and positions since the formation of the interim government. These officers staged a one-hour "pen-down strike" yesterday and have announced a human chain protest for tomorrow.
Officers of the 25 other cadres are demanding the abolition of the quota system for deputy secretary promotions, appointment of officers from respective cadres to policy-making positions, including secretaries, and the assurance of equal facilities for officers of all cadres.
They have declared that if their demands are not met, they will hold a rally in Dhaka on January 4, followed by further action plans.
Comments