A review committee has recommended promotions for 78 retired officials outside the administration, including those from other cadres, who were previously deprived of such benefits.
The review report was submitted to the Chief Adviser, Muhammad Yunus, on Wednesday by Zakir Ahmed Khan, the head of the committee formed to review the appeals of retired officials seeking promotions. Zakir Ahmed Khan, a former finance secretary, submitted the second report to the Chief Adviser’s office.
Among those recommended for promotion are 12 officials for Grade-1 positions, 32 for Grade-2, and 34 for Grade-3. These officials have already retired, and their promotions are being recommended with retroactive effect, commonly referred to as ‘backdated promotions.’
The five-member committee, headed by Zakir Ahmed Khan, has completed its tasks in two phases to review the applications of the officers, who were deprived of their jobs from 2009 to 4 August 2024 under the Ministry of Public Administration, and to prepare its recommendations.
The committee is comprised of representatives from the Cabinet Division, the Ministry of Public Administration, Finance Division of the Ministry of Finance, and Law and Justice Division of the Ministry of Law and Parliamentary Affairs.
In the first phase, it reviewed the applications of deprivation for the posts of deputy secretary and above and submitted a report to the chief adviser on December 10, 2024.
In the second phase, applications were invited from the deprived cadre officers, except administration cadre, who have 3rd grade or above posts.
A total of 318 applications were submitted within the stipulated timeframe. Of those, 68 applications were out of the jurisdiction of the committee, and 40 applications were incomplete in terms of information.
So, a total of 108 applications could not be considered. As a result, there were 210 applications that were reviewed by the committee. The committee held 14 meetings to scrutinise and select all these applications.
While considering the applications of each cadre, a representative of the additional secretary rank of the Ministry of Administration was present at the committee meetings.
The written recommendations of the administration ministry, the opinions of the representatives present at the meeting and related matters were considered seriously. The committee formulated the recommendations through thorough judgment and analysis.
The committee has recommended that a total of 78 officers, including 12 officers in Grade-1, 32 officers in Grade-2 and 34 officers in Grade-3, be given promotions with retrospective effect.
By analysing the information recommended for promotion, it is seen that the committee has recommended 3 steps for 6 officers, 2 steps for 17 officers and 1 step for 55 officers.
The committee did not recommend promotion to 132 officers, said a press release issued by the Chief Adviser’s Press Wing.
The specific reasons why they were not recommended for promotion have been mentioned in each case.
M Siraz Uddin Miah, Principal Secretary to the Chief Adviser, was present on the occasion.