Public service law in the offing

The draft of the proposed public service law is at the final stage and will be placed in parliament very soon, said Prime Minister’s international affairs adviser Gowher Rizvi in the city on Sunday. Addressing the inaugural session of a seminar at Brac Centre Inn, he also said the draft law includes provisions like granting civil servants a security of a 10-year term and giving promotions on the basis of merit instead of seniority. The seminar, titled ‘Good Governance in Bangladesh: An Agenda for the Future’, was organised by Bangladesh Enterprise Institute (BEI) with assistance from Canadian High Commission in Dhaka. Gowher Rizvi noted that the new law is designed to increase professionalism of public servants who are rather politically inclined despite showing integrity in many other respects. He added that the draft of the law was completed through intensive consultation with people in public services. The PM’s adviser said such a law was supposed to be enacted long before as per the promulgation of the first constitution of the land in 1972. The Anti Corruption Commission Act 2013 will also be overhauled soon by the government to replace the provision that curtailed the ACC authority to file graft charges against the government officials, he said. There is another law in the offing to regulate foreign funding in the country through non-government organisations, he added. Presided over by BEI president Farooq Sobhan, the programme was also addressed by Canadian High Commissioner in Bangladesh Heather Cruden, according to UNB.