11th-20th GradesHiring rules delay halts rail workers’ promotions

The promotion of 11th-20th-grade employees of the Bangladesh Railways (BR) has got stuck for a long time, leaving many of them in a state of uncertainty.

The promotion of Bangladesh Railways (BR) employees working in the 11th-20th grades remains closed for a long time, leaving many in a state of uncertainty.

This prolonged closure has raised questions about career progression at the state-owned organisation.

Recruitments and promotions at BR had been done as per the rules of 1985 until 2019 when the Ministry of Public Administration declared the rules invalid.

Later in November 2020, the rules of 1985 were cancelled and the new rules were issued through a notification. Due to this, promotions of BR employees in grades 11th-20th came to a complete halt.

Railway sources said promotions of about 10,000 to 12,000 railway employees, working in grades 11th-20th, have been stuck for a long time. Employees complained that they were being deprived of their desired promotions.

The rules and regulations are not finalized yet. Draft rules are approved and work is in progress. As a result, the promotion of employees in grades 11th to 20th is blocked, the sources added.

However, the officials of the establishment department of the railways say promotion is being done.

Md Badiuzzaman Talukdar, secretary (Administration) of the Railway Sramik League and an employee working as a cashier-cum-computer operator, said that the promotion of grades 11th to 20th employees is stuck in recruitment rules and bureaucratic complications.

“The officials do not take into account the promotion that we need. When applying for promotion, they make various excuses. There are various mistakes in the recruitment rules which are also a risk for us.

We have repeatedly told the railway administration, but they are turning us away. However the authority is giving some promotion to 20th grade employees”, he said.

There were several anomalies in the new recruitment rules. For example, the educational qualification sought for the post of Office Assistant is HSC or equivalent and the same qualification is sought for the post of Points Man.

There was a big difference between the two posts because Points men work under the guidance of office assistants.

As the educational qualifications of the two posts are the same, whether the Points Man post holders will follow the orders of the office assistants - also became a question. They are being rectified, said railways employees.

An employee (16th grade) of the office management department at Railway Bhaban anonymously said, “None of us has been promoted for about three to three and a half years. In 2019, after the gazette was issued by the Ministry of Public Administration, all promotions in the railways were stopped.”

“Then the new manpower structure, which was approved, was also revised but it has not been corrected. We have not gotten a promotion till now, who will bear the burn?”

Railways sources said officials are being promoted constantly with the draft rules but the employees are not being promoted. When the employees want to be promoted, the authorities concerned said that the recruitment rules will need to be amended.

So, now the question arises that there is no need to amend the rules for the promotion of officers. And in the case of employees, the rules need to be amended. When the correction is needed then everyone will need to be promoted, why should it be different only for the employees?

The Director General (DG) of Bangladesh Railway Md Kamrul Ahsan said, “The promotion process was stopped for a long time, now we have started it. Everyone will be promoted step by step. The work of revising has not been completed yet.”

Bangladesh Railway however operates as a separate entity with approximately 600 different job categories, unrivalled in the country. Experts raise a question: what prompts railway officials to introduce such complexity in our dealings?

Prof Dr Shamsul Haque, Civil Engineering Department at BUET said, “Rail is a service-oriented institution. If there is frustration among those who work to maintain the quality of service, it will be harmful.

If this blunder is on the part of high-ranking officials of the railways, it is certainly unexpected and the amount of subsidy in the railways will also increase for it.”

He added, “If discrimination is created between the officers and employees of the organisation then the railway will suffer. The employees should not be deprived of their fair dues and railway authorities should look into that situation.”