THE High Court on Wednesday declared that keeping the government employees as officer on special duty (OSD) for more than 150 days is illegal. The court came up with the declaration saying that the government circular issued in 1991 does not permit keeping any officer OSD for more than 150 days. Delivering verdict on a writ petition, the court ordered the government to take the officials who have been kept OSD for more than 150 days back to their original posts immediately after receiving its copy. The HC also directed the Public Administration Secretary to form a committee headed by a senior secretary to determine the legal fate of the OSD officials who will be taken back to the offices and to submit a report to this court through its Registrar within 90 days after receiving the copy of the judgement.
This verdict establishes what we know has been a manifest wrong–paying salaries to the OSD officers are unconstitutional, since nobody can enjoy unearned money as per the Article 20(2) of the Constitution. There are examples where the government paid over Tk 65 lakh to an official who was an OSD for almost 16 years. This basically involves the misappropriation of a huge sum of money from the public exchequer. But then why are officers made OSD? Many are made OSD for political reasons. Some are made due to an absence of suitable posts. Since they already have the title and the pay, government must make use of them in development work. They should hold similar levels of responsibility on various new and ongoing government projects. A way must be found to put these officials to some useful jobs. Fundamental reforms, especially those dealing with career planning, proper ACR writing and objective evaluation of performance are essential. The increasing politicisation and partisan viewing of bureaucrats have all but debilitated this pivotal instrument of governance and development.
Making OSD is promoting inefficiency. There must not be a single OSD from now. That should be the government’s policy. Otherwise it is a criminal waste of public resource.
