IT is reported reliably that 700 officers are going to be promoted to the ranks of deputy secretary, joint secretary and additional secretary despite not enough vacancies in the approved civil bureaucracy organogram. The decision was taken against a backdrop of political unrest ignoring a large number of honest efficient officials and economic crisis. As a result many wonder how politically motivated the decision is.No doubt the Superior Selection Board (SSB) led by the Cabinet Secretary has scrutinised the profiles of the aspirants to prepare lists for promotion to higher grades for which many officers lobbied the policy makers and some of those loyal to the ruling quarters submitted demi-official letters from ministers seeking favour from the Selection Board. It is interesting to note that there are already 1,283 deputy secretaries against 830 approved posts, 871 joint secretaries against 350 posts and 234 additional secretaries against 120 approved posts. Precisely speaking, the civil bureaucracy is already ‘top heavy’ by structure. Therefore, it is feared that the newly-promoted officers will either be made officers on special duty or remain in original position creating a chaotic situation in the public administration domain.We need a bureaucracy which is competent, capable, impartial and meritorious. But in practice, the brilliant and promising ones are superseded for political considerations without realizing how undependable the politically motivated officers could be. They are bound to be political opportunists.
