The BNP government is following the same policy as previous administrations by appointing retired officials on contract as secretaries in various ministries and divisions.
So far, the government has appointed five secretaries on contractual terms, four of them aged over 65 and another above 64.
Experts say the policy is depriving eligible serving officers of promotion, while some of the retired officials struggle to adapt to the demands of a modern administration, affecting the implementation of government policies.
Most recently on Tuesday, the Ministry of Public Administration appointed four secretaries on contract to key ministries and divisions, according to separate notifications issued by the ministry.
Under the orders, Rafiqul I Mohammad has been appointed secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture, Kamruzzaman Chowdhury secretary to the Health Services Division, Shahidul Hasan secretary to the Local Government Division, and Abdul Khalek secretary to the Secondary and Higher Education Division.
Rafiqul I Mohammad, appointed secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture, is 69 years old and was born on 6 February 1957. He belongs to the 1983 batch of the Bangladesh Civil Service (Administration) cadre.
Kamruzzaman Chowdhury, appointed secretary to the Health Services Division, is a BCS (Administration) officer from the 1985 batch. Born on 30 December 1960, he has returned to public administration at the age of 66.
Abdul Khalek, a BCS (Administration) officer from the 1984 batch, has been appointed secretary to the Secondary and Higher Education Division under the Ministry of Education on a one-year contractual basis. Born on 6 March 1961, he is nearly 65 years old.
Meanwhile, former Chief Engineer of the Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) Md Shahidul Hasan has been appointed secretary to the Local Government Division on a one-year contract. He is currently 75 years old.
Earlier, on 1 March, Munshi Alauddin Al Azad was appointed secretary to the Ministry of Religious Affairs on a one-year contractual basis. He is 69 years old.
The two most senior officials in the government administration – Cabinet Secretary Nasimul Ghani and Principal Secretary ABM Abdus Sattar – are also serving on contractual appointments.
Last week, the Ministry of Public Administration cancelled the contractual appointments of nine secretaries and senior secretaries who had been appointed during the interim government.
The ministry issued a notification announcing the termination of their contracts earlier this week.
Before that move, the government had attached Prime Minister’s Office Secretary Saifullah Panna, Secondary and Higher Education Division Secretary Rehena Parveen, and Religious Affairs Secretary Kamal Uddin to the Ministry of Public Administration.
Experts say contractual appointments are common in public administrations around the world, but such posts are usually filled on the basis of merit. In Bangladesh, however, contractual appointments are increasingly being made on political considerations.
Public administration expert AKM Abdul Awal Majumdar said the government was appointing individuals on contract largely because of existing trust between them and senior officials in the administration.
“It is natural for a government to appoint trusted individuals to important positions in the administration,” he said.
He added that during the Awami League period many officials were sidelined after being labelled as sympathetic to BNP, and that BNP now felt some responsibility to consider those officers.
Majumdar said contractual appointments also carry several drawbacks.
“One problem is that officials who return after many years away from the system may face difficulties due to gaps in experience or familiarity with current administrative practices,” he said.
Another concern, he added, is that officials appointed on short-term contracts may be less willing to take bold decisions.
Majumdar noted that the practice of contractual appointments in the administration is not new in Bangladesh.
He said such appointments were also made during the governments of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Hussain Muhammad Ershad and Begum Khaleda Zia.
However, he said the number of contractual appointments increased significantly after 2008 during the Awami League government, often on political grounds.
During its first six months in office, the interim government led by Muhammad Yunus forced 19 officials at the rank of senior secretary, secretary and secretary-equivalent into retirement.
It also designated 25 officials of senior secretary, secretary and secretary-equivalent rank and 51 officials at the additional secretary level as officers on special duty (OSD), effectively removing them from active posts.
Several other officials at different levels were later placed on OSD status.
At the same time, the interim administration appointed officials perceived to be opposed to the Awami League or sympathetic to Jamaat-e-Islami to key positions within the government.
Officials from the BCS 1982 batch who had long claimed to have been deprived of promotions were also appointed to senior roles, a move critics say created administrative disorder.
Analysts say the recruitment of officials who had retired many years earlier created further complications, as many struggled to adapt to the demands of a modern, technology-driven administration.
As a result, they were often unable to effectively implement government policies, pushing the country’s bureaucracy into a period of instability from which it has yet to fully recover.
Despite this experience, critics say the new government led by Prime Minister Tarique Rahman now appears to be following a similar path.
Sadik Hasan, a professor of public administration at the University of Dhaka, said the government’s reliance on contractual appointments reflects not a shortage of capable officers, but a shortage of trusted ones.
“The BNP has been out of power for about two decades, so the number of officials perceived to be close to the party is relatively small,” he said.
“As a result, those who previously worked under BNP governments or are considered loyal to the party are more likely to be appointed on contract to help implement the government’s political commitments.”
Professor Hasan said contractual appointments could sometimes be justified if based on merit.
However, he expressed concern that many of those recently appointed are elderly and may not be fully familiar with the workings of today’s modern administrative system.
He pointed out that several officials from the BCS 1982 batch were appointed during the interim government, but many of them were unable to perform effectively.
“I am concerned they may struggle to deliver strong results because most of them worked in a more traditional administrative environment,” he said.
“Today’s bureaucracy is far more modern and technology-driven.”
