The Public Works Department (PWD) is facing widespread controversy as many sub-assistant engineers (Diploma) have been deprived of promotion for over 20 years but its demand for filling the vacant assistant engineer posts from the Bangladesh Civil Service (BCS) continues.
Sources concerned said hundreds of BCS officials in the PWD have been kept in reserve and they are drawing salaries from public funds, but the PWD repeatedly send demand note to the public works ministry, seeking news assistant engineers from 43 and 44th BCS cadres.
Despite having vacant posts, diploma engineers are not being assigned current charge as assistant engineer. Amid this situation, sub-assistant engineers and assistant engineers are in a state of confusion over the legality of this practice.
Under existing rules, diploma engineers are recruited as sub-assistant engineers and later, they are promoted to assistant engineers. On the other hand, BCS cadres are directly appointed as assistant engineer.
The PWD is now trying to recruit new BCS candidates for assistant engineer posts, depriving diploma engineers of promotions. The Diploma Engineers Association has submitted a formal complaint to the Ministry of Housing and Public Works over the issue.
Sources said the ministry has formed a committee to look in the matter. No comments have been made by any officials concerned in this regard. Allegations suggest that appointments for the 40th and 41st BCS cadres have bypassed recruitment rules set by the Bangladesh Public Service Commission in 1981.
On October 15 this year, the PWD in its demand note sought direct recruitment of 98 cadres including 34 from the 43rd BCS, 22 from the 44th, five from the 45th and 37 from the 46th BCS.
The Diploma Engineers Association reported that 331 civil sub-assistant engineers and 89 electrical/mechanical sub-assistant engineers joined the PWD in 2004, but most of them are yet to get promotions. They alleged that 420 diploma engineers who joined the PWD in 2004 face massive discrimination.
On August 14 this year, the association wrote to the Chief Engineer of PWD, alleging that assistant engineers from the 41st BCS are providing misleading information to obstruct promotions to sub-assistant engineers.
Current findings indicate that newly appointed assistant engineers receive salaries and allowances as per the 9th grade, while the diploma engineers, who joined in 2004, get salaries in the 8th grade, without additional financial benefits despite their promotion.
Rahat Hasan, an assistant engineer of PWD from the 41st BCS, told the Bangladesh Post that the promotion rules stipulate that one-third of assistant engineer posts filled with sub-assistant engineers. He noted that out of 296 civil assistant engineer posts, only 99 should be filled with sub-assistant engineers. But, 120 of these posts are currently occupied by diploma engineers.
“We have no objection to senior officers getting promotion to assistant engineers in case of one third of vacant posts lying vacant,” he added.
Raihan Mia, president of the Diploma Engineers Association, told the Bangladesh Post that sub-assistant engineers are being deprived of promotion, saying that the information provided by BCS assistant engineers is misleading. Promotions should be given based on seniority and in case of vcant post as per the Bangladesh Civil Service Recruitment Rules of 1981 and 1983.
“We have told the Chief Engineer that the PWD authorities should not recruit new BCS cadres for assistant engineer post to pave the way for the diploma engineers to get promotion,” he concluded.
This correspondent tried to contact Chief Engineer of the Public Works Department Mohammad Shamim Akhter for his comments but his phone was found switched-off.
