Special Correspondent

Someone pretended to be sick! Someone is absent from work without reason. Someone has withdrawn the money from the provident fund and lost it. The 'controversial' 12 officers of the Jatiya Sangsad Secretariat have been doing such feats ever since the student uprising. The Parliament Secretariat is very uncomfortable with this.

There are various problems and criticisms regarding the appointment of these 12 officers. In the last decade and a half, they have bagged various facilities including PS posts of Ministers MPs, preferred postings, foreign tours, allotment of government plots. Although assimilated as 'indispensable officers', they never concentrated on the work of Parliament. However, the recruitment rules have been amended several times to ensure their promotion.

Although the High Court declared their appointment illegal, the Appellate Division ruled that they are still in service. However, there are many complaints about the judgment of the Appellate Division.

Recently, it has been decided to file a review petition against the judgment of the Appellate Division on behalf of the Parliament Secretariat Officer-Employee Welfare Association. So far they have taken salary and allowances by guaranteeing stamps. These 12 officers may be in a situation where salary and allowances will be returned if they lose the case. After realizing the matter, they also withdrew the provident fund money.

Secretary of the National Parliament. Md. Anwar Ulyah told Samakal that many of these recruited officials have been absent from the office for one and a half months. The posts they held (VIP's PS-APS) no longer exist after the dissolution of the Twelfth Parliament. Their re-appointment is pending.

When asked about the review application by the welfare society against the judgment of the Appellate Division, the secretary said that no decision has been taken yet. But everyone has the right to fight the legal process. He said, considering the situation in the past, perhaps the Parliament Secretariat did not contest the case. A decision will be taken after looking into the legal aspect.

Parliamentarians say that these people are appointed in the Seventh Parliament only on the basis of party identity, without regard to the law and rules. Three decades later, this misdeed has been consistently legalized. These officials have involved themselves in various irregularities and misdeeds during this long time. After the formation of the Awami League government in 1996, 21 of the officers who joined Parliament were appointed as 'Privilege Staff' by the choice of Speaker, Deputy Speaker and Whips.

An official of the Parliament Secretariat said that a letter was sent on August 9, 2000 seeking the approval of the Ministry of Establishment to appoint a person who is not a government employee as Speaker. On September 11 of that year, the Ministry of Establishment said that there is no opportunity to assimilate a person who is not a government employee into a government institution.

The Parliamentary Secretariat's Officer-Employee Welfare Association went to court challenging the appointment of Class I officials without the recommendation of the Public Service Commission (PSC).

In 2006, the High Court ruled that this appointment was illegal. Shirin Sharmin Chowdhury, the advocate of the adoptees in this case, was later elected Speaker. The adoptees appealed against the High Court's verdict. From 2007 to 2020, 46 times in 13 years, the date of hearing of the appeal was fixed, but it did not happen.

Kalyan Samiti President Ataul Karim alleged that Law Minister Anisul Haque's PS position MA Masum (one of the adopted 21) exerted influence and stalled the hearing. This hearing was held in the virtual court during the Corona period in 2020. Later, on December 8 of that year, the Appellate Division ruled in favor of the adoptees. In the appeal hearing, the Parliament Secretariat and the then Attorney General's office took a stand on behalf of the assailants under the direction of Speaker Shireen Sharmin Chowdhury. Ataul Karim said that a decision has been taken to apply for reconsideration of the judgment of the Appellate Division. They have also contacted the Attorney General's office for this. There is a positive response from there.

Out of 21 officers appointed in first and second grade, 12 are in service now. The rest have retired. 12 officers have been sent to Human Resources-1 Branch (OSD) in an order on Wednesday.

Parliament officials said that in 2000 PSC appointments were stopped and privileged staff and relatives of party VIPs who came politically were appointed to 21 posts in the name of assimilation. In this, the educational qualification, age of the recruitment rules have not been followed. No test done.

However, among them are three BCS education cadre officers, including rent-a-car traders, who had no experience in government service. Abdul Hai at the age of 48, Sirajul Hossain Badsha at the age of 46 was appointed as Assistant Secretary/Committee Officer.

Those concerned said that the number of permanent and temporary officials in the Parliament Secretariat is about 1,200. Of these, there are only six posts of joint secretary. Among these five positions are occupied by assimilated persons. Apart from this, there are allegations of one-sided allocation of government plots for Parliament Secretariat officials. Among the 15 plots of 3 katha and 5 katha, 11 plots have been taken by the authorized officials.

Where are they now :

Former whip Mizanur Rahman's APS MA Masum was appointed as protocol officer. He has been promoted twice and is now Deputy Secretary. He was the last PS of ABM Fazle Karim Chowdhury, President of the Parliamentary Committee on Railway Ministry. Before this, he served as the PS of Law Minister Anisul Haque.

Sources in the Parliament Secretariat said that despite Anisul Haque's removal from the post of PS, MA Masum was doing the work of sub-registrar transfer and Kazi appointment-transfer. Last week, he was attacked by some sub-registrars when he went to remove the goods from the Parliament Quarters.