Public service ordinance: ‘Insubordination’ clause dropped

The advisory council yesterday approved a draft amendment to the Public Service Ordinance by scrapping the provision for punishment on grounds of "insubordination" and dropping several other controversial clauses.

Instead, provisions have been kept to penalise employees for "disobeying lawful orders of superior authorities" or "violating legal orders, directives or circulars of the government", The Daily Star has learnt from people familiar with the proceedings.

The existing ordinance, which took effect on May 25 amid huge uproar, allows for punishment without investigation within 14 working days in two stages.

Under the proposed amendment, a three-member inquiry committee will be formed, and the entire process must be completed within 28 working days.

The ordinance also requires that the inquiry committee complete its probe within a specified timeframe.

Failure to do so will be considered an act of inefficiency on the part of the committee members, and this will be reflected in their annual confidential report.

Our demands were more, but even so, we welcome the government's initiative as a 'lesser evil' step.

— Nazrul Islam, co-general secretary of the Bangladesh Secretariat Officers and Employees Unity Forum

The proposed ordinance also brings changes to the provisions regarding the punishment of guilty officials.

Under the existing ordinance, section 37(2)(b) provides the penalty of "dismissal from service". In contrast, the proposed ordinance replaces this with "compulsory retirement from service".

In cases of compulsory retirement, the employee concerned will be entitled to all retirement-related benefits as per the rules. However, in the case of dismissal from service, the employee is not entitled to any such benefits.

In cases where allegations are brought against a female government employee, the proposed ordinance makes it mandatory to include at least one female official in the probe committee.

Furthermore, no officer of a lower rank than the accused will be allowed to serve on the committee.

Additionally, punitive measures may be taken against them in accordance with government service rules.

"Our demands were more, but even so, we welcome the government's initiative as a 'lesser evil' step," Nazrul Islam, co-general secretary of the Bangladesh Secretariat Officers and Employees Unity Forum, told The Daily Star.

The forum staged protests at the Secretariat after the government issued the Public Service (Amendment) Ordinance-2025 on May 25, amending the Public Service Act-2018.

"The current ordinance contained provisions that are unconstitutional, which is why we launched our movement," Nazrul said.

In response to the protests, the government formed a committee comprising the law adviser and the energy adviser to hold discussions with employee leaders regarding the ordinance and to submit necessary recommendations to the advisory council.

The committee recommended the latest amendment.

"It is the government's responsibility to ensure that there is no misuse of this law. At the same time, I sincerely thank all those who were involved in realising the just demands of the protesting employees," Nazrul added.

Public administration expert Firoz Mia told this newspaper, "As I see it, the government has included these provisions mainly to restrict the demonstrations of public employees. It would have been better if a separate law had been enacted to address employee agitation. There is a risk that these additions to the service law could be misused for other purposes against innocent employees.