Proposed civil service law
The government has asked for opinions and suggestions of the stakeholders and the people on the draft civil service law posted on the websites of the establishment ministry, cabinet division and deputy commissioners on March 31. This will enable the people to participate in the decision-making process on issues of national importance.
Earlier, in his budget speech on June 10 for the financial year 2010-2011, Finance Minister A.M.A. Muhith said that "major reforms in public administration have become necessary," and added that "the draft Civil Service Act has been prepared and is in the process of finalisation by holding discussions, workshops and exchange of views with different stakeholders."
Although the Constitution provides for enactment of a law to regulate the appointment and conditions of service of persons in the service of the Republic, the successive governments showed no interest in enacting such a law through the parliament, and instead made and unmade rules by executive orders to meet their political ends.
This has particularly happened for appointment to the posts of deputy secretary, joint secretary, additional secretary and secretary in the Bangladesh Secretariat during the last nineteen years or so.
Rules were made, repealed or amended to suit promotion of a particular batch or persons loyal to the party in power. Had there been an act of Parliament on civil service, it might not have been so easy for them to change it according to their sweet will.
The present government deserves thanks for ultimately realising the need for enacting a law to regulate the civil service.
The draft law says that the incumbent members of different cadres of the present Bangladesh Civil Service (BCS) -- deputy secretaries, joint secretaries, additional secretaries and secretaries to the government and such other Class I and Class II officers in the revenue budget as are determined by the governmentshall constitute the proposed Bangladesh Civil Service.
Some knowledgeable people say that it will largely be a replication of the civil service structure that was introduced in the early eighties through rules and orders. This means a narrow base of the civil service as the majority of persons in the service of the republic will not be included in it. This may not be conducive to generating dynamism in public administration. Pay and Services Commission, 1977 examined this issue carefully and concluded that "the term Civil Service should generally include all functionaries of the government who are not in the military service."
The service will have three tierssuperior tier, senior tier and junior tier. The superior tier will include posts that are involved in policy formulation while the senior tier will carry out implementation of policy decisions. The junior tier will provide necessary assistance to the senior-tier.
The posts in different grades of the three tiers will be filled up by direct recruitment, or by promotion, or by both, excepting 10% of the posts in the superior level that will be kept reserved for the president who will appoint persons to these posts following the terms and conditions to be determined. This reminds us of the Ershad government's decision of 1989, which reserved 10% posts of deputy secretary and above in Bangladesh Secretariat for the president, who was to appoint persons to these posts through contract or deputation.
The reintroduction of the parliamentary system of government in early nineties made it obligatory for the president to discharge all his functions in accordance with the advice of the prime minister, excepting the appointment of the prime minister and the chief justice. Consequently, during the last 19 years or so, appointment to these posts was made on political consideration.
If the government wants to appoint some competent persons from outside at the policy-making level, as recently indicated by the finance minister, to bring "dynamism" in the administration, it can develop a transparent procedure to make appointment to certain percentage of posts in the superior tier. This may be included in the relevant recruitment rules. Since the president's approval will be necessary for appointment to all posts in the civil service, there is no need for a separate quota for him.
Recommendations for promoting BCS officers at different levels through written tests held by Public Service Commission (PSC) had come earlier also. They could not be implemented due to some practical reasons.Appointment by promotion to the posts in the superior tier should be avoided. We can examine the procedure of promotion in the civil service in neighbouring countries before taking a final decision on the issue.
Clustering of ministries or services is not a new concept. It existed in Pakistan days. However, the system should be carefully designed so that persons with appropriate background are posted to these ministries or services.
The draft law has proposed retirement of civil servants when they complete 59 years of age. Certain factors like increasing average life-span of our people, need for utilising the experience of the civil servants, and retirement age of the civil servants in the neighbouring countries should guide us in determining the retirement age of our civil servants. The present government has already extended the retirement age of freedom fighters by two years. So, fixation of retirement age of civil servants at 60 years may be considered.
The draft law says that the establishment division will control and manage the proposed civil service. At present, recruitment of persons at the entry level of different cadres through the PSC is the responsibility of the establishment ministry. After recruitment, the control and management of different cadres of the BCS rests with the ministries concerned. Only the BCS (Administration) cadre is directly controlled and administered by the establishment ministry. So, a decentralised approach towards managing the affairs of the proposed civil service should be found out.
To conclude, the composition, recruitment, training and management of persons in the proposed civil service should be planned and implemented in such a way that they can successfully face the challenges of the 21st century.
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