Dhaka //

The government has sent 22 Deputy Commissioners (DCs) who were in charge of the last three controversial parliamentary elections (held in 2014, 2018 and 2024) to compulsory retirement. Among them are Secretary of the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief Md. Kamrul Hasan and Senior Secretary of the Ministry of Industries Zakia Sultana. In addition, Abu Hena Morshed Zaman, former Secretary of the Local Government Department, who was made an Officer on Special Charge of the Ministry of Public Administration a few days ago, has been sent to compulsory retirement. And Joint Secretary Dhananjay Kumar Das has been temporarily suspended.

The Public Relations Department of the Ministry of Public Administration said that Senior Secretary Zakia Sultana has been sent to retirement for taking a stand against the July-August revolution. And Joint Secretary Dhananjay Kumar Das has been temporarily suspended for taking a stand against the July-August revolution and for spreading false propaganda against the current government. However, no reason was given for sending Secretary Abu Hena Morshed Zaman to compulsory retirement.

On Thursday (February 20), a separate notification of the Ministry of Public Administration announced that action would be taken against these officials. Earlier, Senior Secretary of the Ministry of Public Administration Md. Mokhles Ur Rahman spoke to reporters about this at the Secretariat. He said that those who were returning officers (DCs become returning officers) in the controversial elections of 2014, 2018 and 2024 played a negative role. Of them, 43 have already been made OSD. Those whose service age is less than 25 years have been made OSD. And those whose service age is more than 25 years are being given compulsory retirement. Today, an order has been issued to give compulsory retirement to 22 such former DCs.

Officials who are on compulsory retirement

On Thursday afternoon, the Ministry of Public Administration issued a separate notification regarding the compulsory retirement of officials. Most of these officials are of the additional secretary level.

The officials are: Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs Mokhlesur Rahman Sarkar, Additional Secretary of the Rural Development and Cooperatives Department Mohammad Shafiul Arif, Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment Enamul Habib, Officers on Special Charge of the Ministry of Public Administration Sayla Farzana, Rabbi Mia, SM Alam and Tanmoy Das, Bangladesh Copyright Office and Copyright Registration Md. Tofail Islam, Director General of the Bangladesh National Science and Technical Information Collection and Distribution Center Md. Shawkat Ali, Additional Secretary of the Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Department Subhash Chandra Biswas, Additional Secretary of the Information and Communication Technology Department Kamrun Nahar Siddika, Minister (Labor) of the Bangladesh Embassy in Abu Dhabi, UAE Md. Abdul Awal, Statistics and Information Management Department Md. Hamidul Haque, Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA) Executive Member Dewan Muhammad Humayun Kabir, Additional Secretary of the Power Division Fayez Ahmed, Director General of the Department of Agricultural Marketing Md. Masud Karim, Member of the Land Reforms Board Umme Salma Tanzia, Abu Saleh Mohammad Ferdous of the Planning Department. Apart from this, Director of the National Science and Technology Museum Md. Wahidul Islam and Officer on Special Duty of the Ministry of Public Administration Ahmed Kabir have also been sent on compulsory retirement.

Earlier on Wednesday, the government made 33 joint secretaries and equivalent officials working in various ministries, divisions and offices as Officers on Special Duty (OSD) in the Ministry of Public Administration. They had served as Returning Officers and Deputy Commissioners in the controversial elections held in 2018. The current government has made 12 more officials OSD for the same reason.

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