অভাগা যেদিকে চায়...!

How long this will continue? There are a lot of tales about the administrative service of the country. But what we have not been told is "the career development in the civil services are hundred percent meant for them, as if all services of the government are delivered by them only. All other cadre officials are just to glare at their path of climb up the ladder". This is the issue of this discussion. I would expect readers will take it as real point of view, not on an ethnic sense. This is not to hurt anybody, but to show how development processes are hindered and human rights are denied by this. The post like Divisional Commissioners/DCs/ADCs//Asstt. Commissioners/UNOs or COs (Circle Officer--previously) were created during the Colonial period by the then British Regime. They were revenue collectors. They were tools to exploit the toiling mass. But what are their utilities after independence as most of the revenues are being collected by NBR (BCS, Tax and Customs). One would say Land administration, Magistracy etc. But there are land settlement offices; sub-registry offices; there are Judiciary etc in divisions/district/Upazila levels. One thumb rule about justice is that the same man/men can’t act as a jury/judge who orders or implements law/order. Rulers can’t act as a Judge. But what have been going on in so-called district administration. The collectors have been renamed as DCs/UNOs etc. Translated to Bangla as “Zilla proshashok”. Self-proclaimed!! They are all in all in the district. They have all the authority, but they have not been taking any responsibility. There have been all the field offices in districts/upazilla/divisions from each and every Ministry/Directorate. But still there are posts/portfolios/jurisdictions of members of BCS (admin) at the DC office to look after all the activities of the government ministries at those levels. Why? Are they belonging to central/federal government and all other cadre officials are from State government? The government established 26-29 caders of officials (in and around 1979~1981) who were supposed to implement government policies/programmes/projects at their respective ministries/directorates/field offices. They have adequate hierarchies to oversee them, their activities. They are experts in their own fields/business. The idea was adapting professionalism in the government activities, not to promote “jack of all trades master of none”. But what we see, 98% of the Secretaries, Additional Secretaries, Joint Secretaries, Deputy Secretaries (along with 100% Asstt /Sr Asstt Secretaries) in Ministries/divisions are from administrative service. Not only that you will find most of the directorates/corporations’ key officials (including DGs/Chairmen/Directors) are from BCS (administration). Why it will be so? Are they ranked top in terms of merit? Are they all educated from Harvard? Are they recruited through super highway, with separate super exam? Do they all possess unparallel academic record that others are well below them? Are they trained better for all jobs? The answer will be no. Then why has it happened? The government has been placing them on the top of the hierarchy of an organization—ministries/divisions/directorates/sector corporations. Is it not contrary to career development/progression of other cadre/organization officials. Is it not a corruption to deny the right to get promotion of all the cadre officials? One has to note that appointing one Secretary/DG/Director from Admin cader impacts how many officials (at the bottom) from getting promotion to the next hierarchy. But this has been deliberately done since independence. We all want development of the country, but did’nt arrange our government system/structure that way. We want to have service from government officials. How will they provide service if they are betrayed, tortured mentally and physically all the time through the said processes. Note that the admin cadre officials, after getting a new posting which is not professionally right place for him or her) come, start to learn, and then again posted to somewhere else. Which is loss of money, effort, time and loss of all wanting good outcome. How long can this happen at the cost of everything. See the existing rule of promoting to Deputy Secretaries which says only 25% would be promoted from other cadres, but 75% from admin cadre although they are well below number (less than 5000) while others constitute the rest, the overwhelming majority (more than 95%). Even after that, you would find that deputy secretaries promoted (in recent years) from other cadres are below 12%. This is “Mainka Panch”—is there no way out!!! They do not follow the rule made by them. After 35 years of independence, we have not been achieved the desired path of development, growth, educational level, quality of life. Who were in charge of implementing all businesses of the government? Obviously the officials from BCS (admin). They have been exercising all the authority in all ministries/divisions. Have they taken any responsibilities of corruption, mismanagement, inefficiency, misrule, nepotism, inefficacy, ineffectiveness? Have they been sued/ or punished for all these? Have they been sued/punished for underdevelopment in the country? Have they been punished for not setting a good administrative/operational system in the country? Of course not. But why? They like to have the cream, exercise all power and authority while do not take any responsibility. This seems like a never ending cream for which some are opposing seperation of administration from the Judiciary (saw recent news). This attitude must be changed. We all should recall 'authority can be delegated, responsibility not' (a much talked quote from Bangladesh Service Rules). The administrative/operational systems in the country must be changed and or modified. The whole administrative system should be articulated by rationality, equity and justice by abandoning all sorts of malpractice, misrule, exploitation, caricature and blood sucking.. Remember development is a process and every process must have a flow (like a fluid). You can’t expect an efficient/cost effective/ever increasing flow from an erroneous structure/channel. You have to change it, redesign it. How long a nation be kept away from development? How long a nation can bear such process of “jack of all trades, master of none”? How long such denial human rights would prevail? One would find a funny news served by some media saying that "the administrative service officials are stacked up or disgusted by not getting promotion and so and so......" This happens when a scheduled promotion is slowed down by sections within themselves. The media seems one-eyed then. They always serve the news of administrative service while forget the stress, exploitation, torture, tyranny of other cadres. I have not yet seen any reports by media that all the services of the government are being blocked by administrative service. The outcomes are absolutely evident in front of everybody---its like "two friends joined in the civil service on the same batch, same date, same salary scale, through same exams; but one who lowers the merit list of PSC and choose to administrative service retires as Secreatry while the other retires as next to entry level post". That is, one gets promotion 4-5 times in his career, while the other gets only once. Who design this system—the answer is: the administrative service. Have you heard any example of an official who deliberately denied promotions of other cadre officials sitting at the administrative desk in the ministry sacked for his incompetence, corruption and misconduct of not carrying out his responsibilities? The whole episode of the country’s administrative system is “like the khadimder (who serve) takes the cream and leaves waste for others”. The actual toiling masses are thus deprived of their due recognition. Think of the developmental, social and economic implications of this phenomenon. Think of how intense is the violation of human rights in the service structure of the state.