Cabinet Approves The Draft Of Public Service Act-2015

The approval was given in the weekly cabinet meeting held at Prime Minister's Office (PMO) here today with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair.

Briefing reporters at Bangladesh Secretariat, Cabinet Secretary M Musharraf Hossain Bhuiyan said the cabinet in today's meeting also gave final approval to the draft of the "Nuclear Power Plant Ordinance, 2015 under which a public limited company namely "Nuclear Power Plant Company Bangladesh Ltd," would be constituted for commercial operation of the nuclear plants.

About the draft of the "Sarkari Karmachari Ain, 2015", the cabinet secretary said, "It's an epoch-making step as it was being discussed for a long time about formulation of a law under Article 133 of the Constitution to look into the matter of appointment and other activities of civil servants."

So far appointment and activities of the civil servants were being controlled by the rules which were promulgated by the President in different times. The new law would look into the appointment and different aspects of the services of the civil servants, he said.

Cabinet secretary said any previous law contradictory to the new law would be dysfunctional, the cabinet secretary said adding that the new law broadly defined the 'persons in the service of the republic' saying employees of some categories would remain beyond the purview of the law.

Services of the persons under constitutional posts, persons of judicial service, Supreme Court employees, defence personnel, disciplined forces, railway employees, employees of any temporary commission, employees of local government bodies, public university teachers and employees of development projects would be guided by the separate laws of the respective organizations, he clarified.

Necessary rules would be framed on different issues for making the law operational; Musharraf Hossain said, adding that the rules would be framed on appointment, promotion, seniority, leave, posting, deputation and lien, conduct and discipline, retirement benefits, resignation and retirement.

The cabinet secretary said separate rules would be framed under the new law for examination for promotion, performance appraisal, career training and skill development, higher studies and training, privileges, incentives, disability, welfare and preservation of quota for disabled persons and backward communities.

Musharraf Hossain said no employees would be affected because of the restructuring of the service under the law, and government employees would be rewarded for any outstanding contribution to the service. The retirement age of the civil servants would be ascertained by Public Service Act, 1974.

The draft will be sent to the Legislative Wing of the Ministry of Law and Justice for vetting before placing to the cabinet again for final approval, the cabinet secretary said.

About the cabinet approval to the draft of "The Nuclear Power Plant Ordinance-2015, the cabinet secretary said the act would facilitate constitution of a public company for commercial operation of the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant and other future nuclear plants.

Usually, all commercial companies are formed under the "Company Act". But such a high-tech, complicated and capital-intensive project needs a specialized company for commercial operation of the nuclear plants, he said, adding that taking this into consideration the cabinet had approved the law.

Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission (BAEC) would have the ownership of the nuclear plants while "Nuclear Power Plant Company BD Ltd" will be in charge of the operation of the plants, he said.

The company will have a board of directors of minimum seven and maximum 12 members. The secretary of science and technology ministry will be the chairman of the board while chairman of BAEC will be the ex-officio director.

As the Jatiya Sangsad is not in session now, the cabinet secretary said the act will be promulgated as an ordinance by the President considering its urgency. Later, it will be placed in parliament for approval.

The cabinet in today's meeting also approved in principle the draft of "The Army (Amendment) Act, 2015" and Air Force (Amendment) Act, 2015 which proposed for necessary correction in the name of the position of the army chief and the air force chief.

An amendment to the Army Act was made in 1976 changing the name of the post of Bangladesh Army Chief as "Chief of Army Staff" instead of "Commander in Chief of Army Staff". Same change was brought in the "Air Force Act" naming of the post of the air force chief as "Chief of Air Force Staff" instead of "Commander in Chief of Air Force".

But both the amendments became inoperative with the Supreme Court verdict in 2010 declaring the two military regimes after 1975 illegal.

Under the new amendment, Chief of Bangladesh Army will be named as "Chief of Army Staff" and the air force chief will be named as "Chief of Air Force Staff".

The cabinet approved the draft of the National Disaster Management Policy-2015 under the National Disaster Management Act 2012 aimed at executing the objectives of the act with regards to preparedness, risk reduction, development of resilience culture, strengthening institutional capacity and others.