The contractual appointment of four officials – who had left government service years earlier at ranks ranging from senior assistant secretary to joint secretary – directly as secretaries has triggered a backlash across the public administration just five months into the BNP government’s tenure.
The four secretaries have been appointed to head government bodies under different ministries. Such bodies are usually led by officials of joint secretary or additional secretary rank, but the appointment of contractual officials with higher status has raised concerns over administrative discipline, accountability and political influence.
Serving officials fear the appointments could disrupt the chain of command, block promotion prospects and encourage bureaucrats to cultivate political connections in pursuit of senior positions.
A senior official at the Ministry of Public Administration, wishing not to be named, told TIMES of Bangladesh that bringing back officials who had retired years earlier often created tensions within the bureaucracy.
“If the heads of directorates under a ministry enjoy the same rank as the ministry secretary, questions arise over who will remain accountable to whom,” the official said.
He said some of the newly appointed officials were older than the secretaries of the ministries overseeing their agencies and had secured their posts on political considerations.
“Will they pay heed to the ministry secretaries? Certainly not. They will exercise their own authority,” he said.
Officials also questioned the financial rationale of the appointments, saying the government would have to spend more on an official with secretary rank than on a joint secretary or additional secretary.
State Minister for Public Administration Abdul Bari, however, dismissed the concerns.
“The government can make such appointments. Those with the necessary skills and experience are being appointed, and such appointments have been made under every government,” he told TIMES.
He said the issue was not particularly significant.
Four appointments in four months
Safiz Uddin Ahmed was appointed Waqf Administrator at the Office of the Waqf Administrator on a contractual basis on 18 April.
AKM Fazluzzoha was appointed managing director of the Community Clinic Health Support Trust on 30 April.
In May, Abdus Sabur was appointed director general of the Directorate of Textiles.
Sabur retired as a joint secretary during the Awami League government. After 5 August 2024, he was appointed a director of state-owned Janata Bank. Following the BNP’s assumption of office, he joined the Ministry of Textiles and Jute on a one-year contract.
Sabur and Fazluzzoha are associated with the BNP’s political stream.
On 30 June 2024, when the ruling party’s late chairperson Khaleda Zia fell seriously ill, the Policy Management and Research Society, an organisation of retired civil servants, issued a statement signed by 166 former officials calling for her to be sent abroad for treatment.
The names of Sabur and Fazluzzoha appeared on that statement.
The organisation’s president, Md Ismail Zabiullah, is now the Prime Minister’s adviser on public administration, while its general secretary, Abdul Bari, is the state minister for public administration.
Former senior assistant secretary CM Yusuf Hossain has also been appointed director general of the Bangladesh Haor and Wetland Development Department with secretary rank.
Hossain was among the accused in a case filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission on 9 December 2007 against Khaleda Zia and four others over allegations of corruption and massive financial losses to the state through a non-transparent agreement with Canadian company Niko.
The case was filed during the military-backed caretaker government. All the accused were later acquitted during Muhammad Yunus’s interim administration.
Practice began under interim government
The Bangladesh Public Procurement Authority and the Dhaka Transport Coordination Authority had traditionally been headed by officials of additional secretary rank.
That practice began to change under the interim government.
On 28 August 2025, the government issued a notification granting secretary rank to SM Moin Uddin Ahmed, chief executive officer of the Bangladesh Public Procurement Authority.
Md Mashiur Rahman became executive director of the Dhaka Transport Coordination Authority on 8 June 2024.
His name was later included among 119 officials granted retrospective promotion to secretary rank by the interim government on 10 February 2025.
Prof Sadiq Hasan of the Department of Public Administration at the University of Dhaka said politically motivated appointments harmed both the administration and the country.
“It creates a chain reaction. When someone is appointed on political grounds, the path to promotion for a regular official is blocked. That also stalls the advancement of officials below them, causing them to lose motivation,” he told TIMES.
“When junior officials see that senior positions can be secured through political considerations, they too become inclined to engage in party politics. That poses a major challenge to the country’s administration.”
Former secretary AKM Abdul Awal Majumdar said the government could not depoliticise the administration overnight.
“Many officials are lobbying in the ministries for desirable postings, while the government is also extending favours to many of them,” he said. “This should never happen in public administration.”
