Quota reform body nearly finalized recommendations: cab secretary

Publish: 11:17 AM, August 13, 2018 | Update: 11:17 AM, August 13, 2018

DHAKA  – The high-powered government committee to revise the existing quota system for government jobs has nearly wrapped up their report suggesting near abolition of the provision to facilitate further merit-based recruitments in public services, officials said today.

“Our decision is to opt for merit as much as possible by scrapping the quota system . . . time has come to go for open competitions,” Cabinet Secretary Mohammad Shafiul Alam told reporters at Bangladesh Secretariat here this afternoon.

The Public Administration Ministry formed the seven-member committee headed by the cabinet secretary on July 2 to review, reform, or revoke the existing quota system in government jobs.

Asked if the committee would further consider extension of its tenure, Alam replied in the negative saying they nearly finalized its recommendations after a month long exercise while its term was extended once previously.

The top bureaucrat’s comments came at a media briefing following the weekly cabinet meeting with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair.

Alam said the committee recommended near abolition of quota system in recruitment in public services but he simultaneously referred to a Supreme Court verdict/observation on preserving quota for the freedom fighters.

According to the verdict/ observation, he said, the posts for the freedom fighters will have to be kept vacant if the candidates are not available.

Alam said the government will seek opinion from the court, and if the court waves the quota for the FFs, then it will no more exist.

“If the court gives verdict that this part (quota for the FFs) will have to be preserved, then keeping this part other quota will be made open,” he said.

The cabinet secretary said: “Any instruction/observation of the court has become a binding for us. We can never ignore it … the court instruction/observation is like a binding.”