Be Stern
On the face of it, it looked like a good decision. But what was wrong with it was that it was not true, or that is how it appears now. Yesterday, this newspaper along with many others carried the news, based on a PID handout, that government has sent the 7-point demand of the BCS administration cadre to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Establishment Ministry. On inquiring it was revealed that no such JS Standing Committee exists. So where did this news originate from, and why did the PID issue it, though it claimed its source to be "unofficial".
However we would like to repeat our call for patience on all sides. We strongly resent the way BCS admin cadres have been behaving. They cannot act like trade unions nor a group of them behave like CBAs. Government servants are public employees and every aspect of their behaviour must follow certain rules and regulations.
Mass demonstration in front of selected offices are not how BCS admin cadres are expected to behave, nor are other cadres for that matter. However we have to admit that such behaviour of public servants have a long history and has become entrenched with the gradual politicisation of the government functionaries. All government of post-independence period-both civil and military-are guilty of using the government officials for their narrow political ends. Thus over the years the curse of partisanship has gradually eaten away the whole notion of impartiality and objectivity on which our administrative edifice is based.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has a very difficult task before her. We must not forget that it was her party that blatantly used the government servants for its own political goal towards the fag end of BNP rule. She later rewarded those who took active part in that process. In a way she is paying the price of her shortsightedness then.
Whatever may have been the past follies, it cannot be allowed to continue now. We urge the government to be stern and strictly go by the book. As for the parliament, we thinks it is an administrative matter, and should be solved by the executive branch.
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