The Principal Secretary to the Chief Adviser has been dropped from the Public Administration Committee, which oversees the appointment, transfer, and discipline of senior civil servants. The Cabinet Division issued a notification on Tuesday night (23 September) reconstituting the committee.
Earlier, on 8 January, the government had formed the six-member committee with Economic Adviser Salehuddin Ahmed as its chairman. At that time, Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Adviser Muhammad Faozul Kabir Khan, Environment Adviser Syeda Rizwana Hasan, Information and Broadcasting Adviser Mahfuz Alam, the Cabinet Secretary, and the Secretary of the Ministry of Public Administration were included as members.
On 26 August, the committee was reshuffled, with Syeda Rizwana Hasan made the member-secretary and newly appointed Information and Broadcasting Adviser Md. Mahfuz Alam added as a member. On that day, the Chief Adviser’s Principal Secretary was also inducted into the committee.
However, retired secretary Shamsul Alam recently alleged on social media that large sums of money were being exchanged for key postings during the tenure of the interim government. The day after his allegation, Public Administration Secretary Mokhlesur Rahman was transferred to the Planning Commission.
In this context, the government has now decided to exclude the Chief Adviser’s Principal Secretary from the reconstituted Public Administration Committee.