BAHARAM KHAN

The BNP-led government appears to be continuing the controversial practice of placing retired officials in key administrative positions -- a policy widely followed by the previous interim government -- which, according to many bureaucrats, is stoking frustration within the civil service.

Moreover, the government has drawn criticism over the recent appointments of two controversial officials to key deputy commissioner-level posts.

Bureaucrats expected that the elected government would overhaul the administration by removing contractual officials from top positions, but they are now witnessing the opposite.

According to the public administration ministry’s data, all eight senior secretaries, aged between 65 and 75, are contractual appointees, most of whom had been out of administrative roles for over a decade. They include the cabinet secretary, the principal secretary to the prime minister, and the secretaries for public administration and land.

Ministry sources said that during the interim government’s tenure, at least 18 secretaries were appointed on a contractual basis for one to two years, while the BNP‑led government appointed 19 secretaries on contract, cancelling more than a dozen such appointments.

“Signs of indecision and instability are visible in selecting top officials. Sudden decisions should not be made regarding senior posts. Unexpectedly, this is happening during the tenure of an elected government,” public administration expert Firoz Mia told The Daily Star.

Ministry officials said that in the past, about 10 percent of the total number of secretaries were appointed on a contractual basis, but the number now stands at 25 out of a total of 85 secretaries.

One of them is Cabinet Secretary Nasimul Ghani, who was made an officer on special duty (OSD) in 2009 and retired in 2016.

About a decade after his retirement, Nasimul was appointed secretary of the President’s Office and later home secretary during the interim government’s tenure.

Just a day before the current government took office on February 17, he received a contractual appointment as cabinet secretary -- an instance many experts and bureaucrats described as unprecedented in Bangladesh’s administrative history.

Officials at the public administration ministry could not say anything about the tenure of his contractual appointment.

When asked, Nasimul said, “I don’t know how long I’m going to hold this post... I will leave the day the government wants me to. If it directs me not to come to office from tomorrow, I won’t.”

A new precedent was also set through the appointment of ABM Abdus Sattar, a former private secretary to the BNP chairperson, as the principal secretary to the PM.

According to sources at the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), this was the first time a party chief’s private secretary was given the post of principal secretary.

When a secretary is appointed on a contractual basis, it impacts the promotion and placement cycles of three to four regular officers. Currently, more than a hundred officers are missing out on their due promotions and roles because of these contractual appointments. Consequently, this is causing frustration within the administration, said a joint secretary on the condition of anonymity.

CONTROVERSIAL APPOINTMENTS

The recent government decision to appoint two controversial officials to key deputy commissioner‑level posts came as a shock to many One “It’s

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