THE New Nation has run a story on Tuesday captioned ‘promotion en masse’ under which the government has promoted 873 bureaucrats to their higher posts making a mess in terms of service discipline in the administration. It appears to be the most liberal promotion exercise that the government has carried out in the country’s history apparently to appease the bureaucracy, which has lent all support to win the flawed January 5 election. But what we fear is that such mass promotion based purely on political consideration is going to make our bureaucracy merit less and inefficient where highly qualified and efficient officers are losing ground. Consequently, the administration is fast losing neutrality in dealing with people and also becoming highly inept and corrupt under the patronization of the party in power.
We know that the Awami League government has also carried out mass promotion earlier to over thousand posts in the past several years. But this time we must say that the government has visibly taken the most controversial step what may be seen as an outright attempt to buy the loyalty of the bureaucracy in its bid to stay in power defeating the opposition challenge calling for new election. The government has earlier announced the new pay scale; which has almost doubled the take home salary. Now in a new cycle of mass promotion, as advised by old bureaucrats turn politicians, the government has come out to make the bureaucracy a bastion of its political power, whatever be its impact on the nation.
But in doing so, for example, the administration has become top-heavy with unnecessary manpower with poor education and training. We don’t know how the government would justify the number of deputy secretaries at 1623 against the sanctioned posts of 830. How it would use 1158 joint secretaries as against 430 sanctioned posts and 457 additional secretaries compared to 107 sanctioned posts. We are appalled to see that the Education Ministry has nine joint secretaries while it has four sanctioned posts. Similar situation is prevailing in other ministries. In the new situation the fact that almost all newly promoted officers have been asked to stay at their present posts, shows that there was no need for promotion in demand for their service at the higher level. The officers are also happy with new pay and status without working at that level. In fact the new service motto in the government is now rapidly changing from the officers’ commitment to serve the nation to serve the ruling party. The government is making it sure with hefty pay and other benefits.
But such overcrowding at higher echelon of the bureaucracy is at the same time leaving the lower tier without enough manpower. There should have been over 2000 assistant secretaries as reports said but the available figure stands at 1665. The number of senior assistant secretaries is also insufficient. It shows promotion is going faster in the administration on political consideration. The government is ignoring the need of popular support.
