Published : 30 Sep 2026, 01:15 PM
Updated : 30 Sep 2026, 01:15 PM
More than 100 engineers at the Public Works Department have been waiting for promotion as disputes over seniority between directly recruited and promoted assistant engineers have stalled the process.
The disputes have reached the courts, with the Ministry of Housing and Public Works taking the position that no decision should be made until the cases are finally resolved.
The delay has left 41 sub-divisional engineer (civil) posts vacant at the department, while another 31 posts in the electrical and mechanical branches are also unfilled.
Additional Secretary Md Sarwar Alam, who oversees promotion and litigation issues concerning officials, told bdnews24.com that seniority is generally determined under a 1970 policy based on the date officials joined at the beginning of the same calendar year.
He said promotions had been held up for nearly five years before both sides filed writ petitions in 2025.
A High Court stay order concerning the preparation of the seniority list for non-cadre officials has prevented the process from moving forward, while two or three other issues have also delayed its finalisation.
The delay has left about 80 posts vacant, he said, adding that officials cannot be assigned to those positions.
“This is affecting work, while many officials are being deprived of promotion. As a result, many are having to take on additional duties beyond their assigned responsibilities,” Sarwar said.
More than 100 officials among those directly recruited or promoted to assistant engineer posts are now eligible for promotion, according to him.
“If one side is promoted, the others will go back to court. Since they have gone to court, let the final ruling come from there. Promotions will then be given accordingly,” Sarwar said.
Engineers waiting for promotion said officials from the 37th to 44th Bangladesh Civil Service batches in the Public Works Department cadre have become eligible for the next grade.
Officials from the 37th BCS have not been promoted from Grade 9 to Grade 6 because the seniority list has not been finalised.
Officials from the 38th BCS have also remained in the same post for around five and a half years and are waiting for promotion to Grade 6.
Many non-cadre officials have also been affected by the delay in preparing the seniority list.
According to the department records, 44 assistant engineers were recruited directly through the 37th BCS on Mar 20, 2019.
On Dec 30 that year, 25 sub-assistant engineers were promoted to assistant engineer.
Two years later, on Jan 27, 2021, 61 assistant engineers in the civil branch and 32 in the electrical and mechanical branches were recruited through the 38th BCS.
On Nov 2 that year, 30 sub-assistant engineers in the civil branch and 23 in the electrical and mechanical branches were promoted to assistant engineer.
The appointments raised questions over who should be ranked on seniority among engineers who entered the next post through direct recruitment and promotion in the same calendar year.
Seniority had previously been calculated from joining dates early in the calendar year, under the 1970 policy, but a group of directly recruited BCS officers rejected that approach and filed a writ petition seeking seniority from their notification date instead.
The High Court took up the matter and directed the public administration ministry to form a high-level probe committee, which later submitted its findings to the court.
The committee found that promoting officers and granting seniority without an approved, valid seniority list -- in breach of the rules -- had undermined the rights of directly recruited cadre engineers.
The High Court then declared those out-of-rule benefits and seniority grants "illegal".
On Jan 27, 2025, the public administration ministry issued an opinion stating that, under rule 3(e) of the Bangladesh Civil Service Seniority Rules 1983, seniority could be determined from an officer's cadre joining date.
The Appellate Division subsequently ruled that directly recruited cadre engineers could not claim seniority from a date earlier than their actual date of joining, and directed the High Court to settle the matter within two months.
The petitioning cadre officers have since filed a review plea, and the case remains at that stage.
Separately, a section of non-cadre or diploma-holder officers promoted into the role filed their own writ petition, arguing that direct recruitment of assistant engineers through the cadre service was "illegal".
The government filed a civil petition against that writ, and the court has stayed the diploma engineers' case.
A PWD assistant engineer told bdnews24.com that while regular cadre officers' promotions are tied to seniority, departmental exams, applicable rules and other qualifications, bringing directly recruited officers into higher posts within the same cadre could create future complications around seniority and cadre structure.
An officer promoted to assistant engineer countered: "Why should the rule that has governed promotions to this post for 56 years suddenly change now? We won't be moved from that long-standing process."
