The administration cadre is considered one of the most prestigious and senior branches of the Bangladesh Civil Service (BCS). Its members are responsible for government policymaking, running field-level administration, maintaining law and order in their capacity as executive magistrates, and coordinating between different government departments. At field level they serve as assistant commissioners and upazila nirbahi officers (UNOs), rising ultimately to policy posts in the secretariat.
From the start of their career, a field administration officer fills two distinct roles: assistant commissioner and executive magistrate, exercising the executive magisterial powers vested in them by the government. Under Section 10 of the Code of Criminal Procedure 1898, a deputy commissioner, an additional deputy commissioner, a senior assistant commissioner (upazila nirbahi officer) and an assistant commissioner are all executive magistrates in the field administration. Drawing on subsection 10(5), the government may also, if required, empower any member of the administration cadre to act as an executive magistrate on deputation — for instance, at bodies such as the Bangladesh Road and Transport Authority (BRTA), city corporations, ports and airports.
Bureaucrats were key to sustaining the authoritarian 16-year rule of the deposed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. To retain its unchallenged power and administrative grip, the Awami League government of the time wielded a combination of perks and control over civil servants. From ministries, district administrations and regulatory bodies to state-owned enterprises, the administration cadre established firm dominance across every level of the state machinery.
An investigation committee has found that to execute an “unprecedented plan” for three disputed national parliamentary elections during the now-ousted Awami League government, a special unit was formed comprising select officials. The unit became known as the “election cell”. The investigation committee said that between 2014 and 2024, control of the electoral system was effectively transferred from the Election Commission to the civil administration. Over that period, it was the administration, not the commission, that became the main force running the elections.
Last year, 33 joint secretaries and equivalent-ranking officers from the administration cadre, who were serving in various ministries, divisions and departments, were made Officers on Special Duty (OSD) at the public administration ministry. All 33 had served as returning officers or deputy commissioners during the disputed 2018 election. In addition, at least 22 former deputy commissioners who were in charge of the three disputed parliamentary polls in 2014, 2018 and 2024, and had completed 25 years of service, have been forced into retirement.
The role of the top echelons of the administration cadre during that period, from managing the controversial elections to implementing various unpopular decisions, has drawn criticism. They have also faced allegations of irregularities and corruption centred on mega-projects, and of accumulating assets abroad. After the student-led mass uprising in August 2024, many hoped this power structure centred on the administration cadre would change as part of state reform. But in the subsequent interim government’s 18 months in office, there has been no visible shift in the culture of a top-heavy administrative structure and reliance on senior officials. Key anti-corruption proposals from the Public Administration Reform Commission have also not been implemented.
Against this backdrop, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), on course to form a government after an outright victory in the 13th parliamentary election, may face a major challenge: effectively making the elite administration cadre both professional and people-friendly. Within the current structure, their role is crucial — from implementing policy and coordinating field administration to maintaining administrative discipline. If the BNP wants to build an accountable and citizen-oriented public service, it must from the outset maintain policy consistency in postings, monitoring and accountability. Otherwise, the culture of entrenched opportunism within the administration, analysts say, could create pressure for a new government too.
There are currently 26 service cadres for civil service officers in Bangladesh. They include: administration, agriculture, Ansar, audit and accounts, co-operatives, customs and excise, family planning, fisheries, food, foreign affairs, forestry, general education, health, information, livestock, police, postal, public health engineering, public works, railway engineering, railway transport and commercial, roads and highways, statistics, taxation, technical education, and trade. Among these, the administration cadre is known as the most influential. According to the government employee database, 6,541 officers from this cadre are currently serving in public administration; 71 of them hold the rank of secretary or senior secretary.
In 1979, the late president Ziaur Rahman introduced the Senior Service Pool (SSP) with several aims, including ending discrimination in appointments to senior government posts. That pool was meant to foster a people-oriented, transparent, accountable and efficient administrative structure by opening senior positions to open competition among different cadres based on written examination results. The move would have reduced the administration cadre’s predominance in public administration, and a section of the cadre opposed it. The process therefore failed to gain momentum. The SSP became ineffective after Ziaur Rahman’s death. The subsequent government of Hussain Muhammad Ershad abolished it — solidifying the authority of the administration cadre.
Critics allege that senior government officers played a key role in keeping the Awami League in power for more than a decade and a half. Many of them were drawn overwhelmingly from the administration cadre. During the AL government’s tenure, they directly helped prolong the authoritarian rule through the partisan politicisation of the field administration. Political loyalty was treated as the primary qualification for recruitment, promotion and transfers during the period. The post of “senior secretary” was created to reward loyal bureaucrats. Appointments were finalised only after police verification confirmed an officer’s political identity.
Under the fallen government, a significant share of the Bangladeshis who accumulated large assets abroad were bureaucrats. Their purchases of homes in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates and Australia, their investments in businesses, money held in foreign bank accounts, and the acquisition of citizenship by family members in those countries have all been matters of discussion.
The government of Sheikh Hasina fell on August 5, 2024 through a student-led mass uprising. After the subsequent interim government took charge, a desire for state reform took hold. But no significant reform proved visible in public administration, unlike many other fields. Contractual appointments were made to top posts in the cabinet division, the chief adviser’s office, the Election Commission secretariat, and key ministries including home and public administration.
Many had been optimistic that the interim period would quickly bring merit-based recruitment and postings, a reduction in politicisation, the prevention of corruption, and assured accountability. But according to observers, the top-heavy structure persisted: a plethora of contractual hires, several appointments to the “senior secretary” rank, retrospective promotions at various levels, and decisions based on recommendations. The crisis of a surplus at the top and a shortage of necessary staff at the field level also remained unchanged. Nor was there visible progress on accountability. Overall, the kind of reform process that could have made public administration more people-friendly, professional, neutral and effective was not implemented. Experts note that there was no significant improvement in the administrative fragility during the interim government’s tenure.
In such a reality, analysts believe restructuring the public administration will become a major policy and administrative test for the BNP, a party set to assume state power after a long interval. It will have to begin work within a power structure built on postings over the past decade and a half, a culture of promotions based on party loyalty, and administrative influence concentrated at the top. As a result, those concerned do not rule out the possibility that various opportunistic factions within the administration could become active following the change in government.
Analysts warn that when a new government takes power in a country like Bangladesh, opportunistic groups within the bureaucracy try to ingratiate themselves with the new administration. A BNP government will therefore need to be vigilant from the outset. All key appointments, from secretaries and agency heads to field administration posts, must be determined solely by competence and merit. Officials involved in state activities must be kept under scrutiny, with good performance rewarded and those implicated in irregularities and corruption facing exemplary punishment.
“If the government genuinely wants to run the country well in the future, it must staff the administration with promising individuals based on merit, qualifications, efficiency, honesty and reputation. Otherwise, achieving good results will be difficult,” said AKM Awal Mazumder, a former secretary and former rector of the Bangladesh Public Administration Training Centre (BPATC).
To build an effective administration, he added, the government must choose those who can provide genuine support to run the state through honesty, professionalism and efficiency. “If it can appoint qualified, efficient and impartial officers to important posts like secretaries, agency heads, DCs and commissioners, encourage them, monitor them regularly and hold them accountable, then building an effective administration won’t be difficult.”
Ahead of the 13th national election, the BNP released its manifesto emphasising good governance. It presented a series of pledges to the public: curbing corruption, establishing the rule of law, merit-based recruitment, administrative reform, an accountable and people-friendly public service, a strong public commission, the formulation of private service rules, increasing professionalism in state institutions, and preventing politicisation.
Asked whether the BNP will face challenges in managing public administration after forming the government, a former secretary who requested anonymity told Bonik Barta: “I hope the party will implement the promises it made in its manifesto. The manifesto contains details on building an accountable and people-friendly public administration. But those pledges must be implemented.”
Dr Kazi Maruful Islam, a professor in the department of development studies at the University of Dhaka, told Bonik Barta: “BNP is preparing to assume state power after a long interval, within a particular political reality. One of the main demands of the political change that created this new situation was the establishment of a merit-based civil service. But the reality is that, for a long time, a culture has developed inside the administration where seniority, party loyalty or personal allegiance have been valued more than professionalism.”
On the challenge for the BNP in making the administration people-friendly and professional, he added: “If the new [BNP] government genuinely wants to establish a new political culture, then breaking the entrenched administrative culture will be a major challenge. If the political leadership remains committed to prioritising the three factors of merit, efficiency and performance, then bringing about change isn’t impossible. Political will, policy consistency and concrete reform steps — these three must work together.”
This correspondent spoke to a government secretary and two additional secretaries. Speaking on condition of anonymity, they said many retired government officers who felt marginalised during the previous regime are now seeking positions. They essentially want to be given responsibilities. A policy advisory committee could be formed under the Prime Minister’s Office, they suggested, and these retired officials could be appointed to key sectors such as health, education, energy and agriculture. That way, the government could draw on their advice. But if contractual appointments are made to various ministries as in the past, they warned, public administration will not be “functional”. They stressed the need to post incumbent officers on the basis of qualifications and merit. To ensure good governance, a system of rewards for state officials and employees could be established, while those involved in irregularities and corruption must face exemplary punishment.
Dr Ziauddin Hyder, an adviser to the BNP chairperson, told Bonik Barta: “BNP Chairman Tarique Rahman has already spoken on this matter. Meritocracy will be the most important factor in the administration. Work will be assigned according to each person’s area of expertise. Party affiliation, ideology or religion won’t be the criteria; competence will be the key.”