Anger over DC posts: Deputy secys scuffle inside Secretariat

In an unprecedented scene, Bangladesh Secretariat yesterday witnessed a fistfight among a section of public administration ministry officials over the appointment of 59 deputy commissioners in the last two days.
The officials also hurled abuse at each other inside a senior official’s room as well as in the corridor, officials said.
They said they have never heard of or imagined such an unpleasant and undisciplined behaviour at the Secretariat, the heart of civil bureaucracy.
Witnesses said some officials belonging to the rank of deputy secretary stormed the office of Joint Secretary KM Ali Azam at building no. 1 around 1:30pm, saying they were unfairly left out of the list of the newly appointed DCs.
At one point, some of them lunged at Ali Azam. A pushing and shoving broke out when other colleagues, including a female official, tried to intervene to bring order, they added.
Police and army personnel deployed at the Secretariat gate rushed to the scene on the second floor of the building to prevent the situation from worsening further, several officials said.
When an intelligence official tried to capture video of the disorderly episode, some officials seized his mobile phone, which has since been returned.
The protesting officials made themselves available on the second floor until 4:00pm and then moved to the fourth floor, outside the office of Cabinet Secretary Mahbub Hossain. The DC aspirants spoke with him around 5:00pm, and left the office around 6:15pm.
Over the last two days, the interim government appointed 59 DCs. Gazette notifications for the appointment of 34 were issued yesterday.
The agitating officials said they were aggrieved by the appointments as they were not on the list despite being deprived during the Awami League government’s tenure.
“We have demanded the cancellation of the gazette [of the DC appointment]. We have also explained why it should be revoked,” an official of 24th batch, who was among the protesters, told The Daily Star.
He said the cabinet secretary assured them of forwarding their demands to Chief Adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus, who is also in charge of the public administration ministry.
“We are awaiting his response,” he added, on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.

A top official of the public administration ministry said several changes might be made to the list after yesterday’s incident.
A number of officials alleged that some of the newly-appointed DCs have big investments in stock market, had harassed their colleagues in the past, and were closely associated with Awami League and Chhatra League.
They added that some of the new appointees were also reportedly close to former ministers.
“We were deprived during the Awami League’s tenure. We were not given field administration positions because it was feared that we might influence the election. We couldn’t become deputy commissioners. But even after the fall of the Awami League government, we are being deprived,” said another official, wishing not to be named.
Between 4:00pm and 6:15pm when the agitating officials took position in front of the cabinet secretary’s office and held talks with him inside his office, some secretaries and senior officials could not meet the cabinet secretary.  Mahbub Hossain, the cabinet secretary, left his office around 7:30pm.
Public Administration Secretary Mokhlesur Rahman left his office around 12:30pm and did not return for the rest of the day.
Asked about the incident, a Cabinet Division official said a newly appointed DC’s Facebook profile featured a photo of former prime minister ‍Sheikh Hasina. Resentments ran high after this photo went viral, eventually leading to the scuffle.
Another official said that in recent days, ministry officials saw a man in KM Ali Azam’s room. Ali Azam had been consulting with this man for extended periods. Other officials were not allowed in during these meetings.
These meetings behind closed doors sparked suspicions among the disgruntled officials, who believe that recommendations for the DC appointment might have come through this outsider.
DCs are responsible for overseeing general administrative activities, maintaining law and order, and managing land as collectors. They also play a key role in implementing special programmes of elected governments and ongoing development projects. The position of DC is considered one of the most prestigious roles in the administration, second only to the secretary.