How rational is the law on relieving government employees without probe?

For many years, there has been a saying in Bangladesh that if you do not leave your government job on your own, you will never be dismissed. That is, no matter how much irregularities and corruption you commit, you may be transferred, fined, or otherwise punished; but your will never loss your job. This time, the current interim government is going to change that law. A provision is being included for dismissal or relieving of government employees without investigation. The new law will give the government the power to dismiss employees with just 8 days' notice, especially those who disrupt official work.

According to news published in the media last Thursday (April 24), the draft of this law has been proposed by the Ministry of Home Affairs. It will be presented to the cabinet after receiving the approval of the Chief Adviser. Basically, the draft of this law has been formulated to replace the 'Government Employees (Special Provisions) Ordinance, 1979', which was repealed in 2018.

There are certainly some good aspects to this law. It will reduce the arbitrariness of government employees to some extent; but it also has its adverse impacts. It remains to be seen how well the law will be recognized with the amended constitution. There is room to consider whether the fundamental rights of people will be violated by it. Moreover, is dismissal without trial, without investigation a good decision? Is it possible to say for sure that such a law will not be used for political and personal interests?

Sources have informed that after the July-August mass uprising, many administrative officials were absent and professional conflicts arose among the officials and chaos arose in the secretariat. In view of this situation, the government has taken the initiative to enact this new law. We have seen that after the July-August mass uprising, various irregularities and chaos were attempted by a special group of government employees, and the political reasons behind it were true, but on the other hand, it is also true that people associated with the Awami League were also harassed in various ways and they were forcibly dismissed from their jobs. It is not possible that the law will be applied only against specific political groups in the future. This will create a kind of uncertainty, frustration and negative attitude among government employees.

Therefore, we think that the current government and politicians need to think more carefully about the law. Apart from that, dismissal with 8 days' notice is also decided and judged quite quickly. There are many types of 'politics' in government institutions; anyone can be a victim of it. Therefore, our suggestion is that the law on dismissal be passed subject to investigation and that the time for decision-making be extended for some more time.