Speakers: End systemic disparities within civil service to improve efficiency

Speakers at a roundtable discussion have emphasised addressing systemic disparities within the Bangladesh Civil Service structure for improving efficiency, ensuring fairness, and delivering better services to the people of the country.

The roundtable discussion titled "State Reforms: The Civil Service Perspective" was held at the Public Works Department (PWD) auditorium at Segunbagicha in the capital on Saturday.

Inter-Cadre Disparity Resolution Council organised the roundtable.

The council was formed to manage the integrated activities of 25 cadres through an organised framework to address these inequities and identified several primary solutions.

Addressing the event, Chief Coordinator of Ganosamhati Andolon Junaid Saki said if there is so much disparity within the cadres, then there is no need for the system of cadres at all.

“The nation has been moving in the wrong direction for 53 years. There is a significant colonial aspect within the administration, which has been hidden for more than half a century. In 2024, we see a fascist-like system where, in metropolitan cities, police can shoot at will, but who has given the right to police in other cities to shoot? The state is shooting at its own people."

Saki said people wanted an administration that would serve the public, one that would focus on human service. “I often hear my cadre colleagues say that other administrations lack skilled cadres. Just because someone has entered the service doesn't mean they are entitled to a permanent arrangement; this is not right. As magistrates, we have become permanent fixtures, doing whatever we want."

Soharab Hasan, joint editor of Daily Prothom Alo; Barrister Nasir Uddin Ahmed Ashim, international affairs secretary of BNP, Dr Mohammad Golam Rabbani, professor, Department of History, Jahangirnagar University; MA Aziz, senior journalist and columnist; Masud Kamal, senior journalist and columnist; Professor Md Abdus Samad, former president, BCS General Education Association; Professor Dr Muhammad Asaduzzaman, director, International Mother Language Institute, Abdur Rahman (Jibal), advocate, Supreme Court of Bangladesh, among others, addressed the event.

The "Inter-Cadre Disparity Resolution Council" recommended ensuring professionalism, timely promotion, scale upgradation, maintaining warrant of precedence to reduce disparities in the civil service

Members of each cadre should have the right to progress through the ranks of their respective ministries based on experience and merit, ultimately reaching the highest levels, it said.

It recommended introducing batch-based promotions for all cadres, with provisions for supernumerary and retrospective promotions where needed, to eliminate inter-service promotion disparities and foster a better environment for public service.

It said there is a need to upgrade ranks and create an equal number of positions for all cadres and revise the Warrant of Precedence to establish a grade-based equality for all cadres.

Source: UNB