The practice of designating numerous officials as Officers on Special Duty (OSD) for their “political affiliations” has triggered a severe administrative paralysis across the civil service.
Had these sidelined officials remained in active duty, the current manpower crisis, exacerbated by a staggering volume of vacant posts, would have been significantly mitigated.
This personnel shortage has reached a critical tipping point, slowing the implementation of government decisions across various ministries and divisions to a crawl.
At the heart of the issue is a desperate lack of staff that forces individual officers to juggle between two and six different functional roles simultaneously.
The resulting administrative bottleneck is creating long queues for essential services, leaving the general public to bear the financial and mental burden of delayed policies and stalled governance.
Consequently, files that must transition through multiple desks for approval – covering law, budget, development, and planning – are being stalled, causing a systemic disruption that ripples from the central administration down to field-level services.
An analysis of 54 ministries and divisions conducted by TIMES of Bangladesh reveals that over 350 officers are currently performing multiple duties simultaneously. This trend spans the entire hierarchy, from Additional Secretaries down to Assistant Secretaries.
On average, seven officers per ministry are handling the workloads of two or three wings or branches alone. The strain is most visible in the Ministry of Home Affairs, where 35 officers hold multiple responsibilities, followed by the Cabinet Division with 20 such officers, and the Road Transport and Highways Division with 16.
These vacancies have led to significant operational stagnation, such as the two-year delay of the Antiquities Act amendment in the Ministry of Cultural Affairs.
The Bangladesh Department of Archaeology is set to submit the Antiquities Act of 1968 to the Ministry of Culture for amendment by late 2024. Under the existing law, the advisory committee is composed of the Department of Archaeology chairman and several Members of Parliament.
However, meetings have stalled because the committee chairman’s official rank and status are lower than those of the parliamentarians. A draft amendment intended to resolve this by appointing the Minister as the committee chairman has remained languishing in the Ministry of Culture for the past two years.
Speaking on the condition of anonymity, an official from the Department of Archaeology noted that the advisory committee cannot meet until the law is amended. This lack of oversight has halted critical decisions necessary for the preservation of ancient monuments throughout the country.
According to the website of the Ministry of Cultural Affairs, Additional Secretary AKM Abdullah Khan is currently managing all six wings, including Administration, Budget and Arts, Library and Law, Cultural Heritage, Development and Planning, and Archaeology and Museum.
When questioned about overseeing all six wings alone, Khan claimed he only manages the Development Department, suggesting the website is outdated. However, other officials maintain he is the head of all six wings, noting that there is no other additional secretary serving in the ministry.
When asked about the long-delayed legal amendment, Khan declined to comment in detail, stating he was attending a programme with ministers and would have to look into the matter later.
Meanwhile, Elora Sumana, Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Cultural Affairs, is managing both the Cultural Heritage-01 and Cultural Heritage-02 branches. She informed TIMES that while her work is primarily paperwork focused on cultural heritage, her dual responsibilities force her to continue working from home and via phone. She remarked that if the government requires it, she is prepared to work 24 hours a day.
Similarly, Anisur Rahman, an Additional Secretary in the Road Transport and Highways Division, is balancing his ministerial duties with the additional responsibility of serving as the Managing Director of Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited, which manages and runs the Metro Rail Line 6 and is constructing other lines.
Public administration experts assert that the current administrative crisis stems from a dual burden: a vast number of vacant posts and the practice of making numerous officials Officers on Special Duty because of their link with the Awami League.
OSDs are retained on the payroll but removed from active, assigned responsibilities. While legally intended as a posting to manage staff surpluses or handle special assignments, the designation is frequently used as a “punishment” or a political tool to isolate officials.
Around 4,50,000 government posts remain vacant, leaving roughly one in four positions unfilled, as informed by State Minister for Public Administration Abdul Bari in parliament.
A similar pattern of sidelining was seen during the past transition between the Muhammad Yunus-led interim administration and the Tarique Rahman-led BNP administration, when about 700 officials were placed in compulsory retirement or OSD status.
Sadik Hasan, a professor of public administration at Dhaka University, warns that the consequences are deeply damaging.
He notes that service seekers face significant financial, mental, and other losses because the necessary official signatures are delayed.
According to Professor Hasan, the reality is that when an official is burdened with additional duties, they cannot perform their primary role effectively, preventing the public from receiving desired services.
Experts further argue that administrative progress will not accelerate unless the number of officials is increased immediately. They suggest the government could utilise officials who have been designated as OSD.
However, Md Toufiq Imam, Joint Secretary of the Appointment, Promotion and Posting Wing of the Ministry of Public Administration, is reluctant to attribute these additional duties to a manpower shortage.
He maintains that multiple responsibilities are assigned only for short periods, stating that if there is a temporary lack of personnel, others step in for a few days, and insists there is no crisis.
