Retired officials from 25 Bangladesh Civil Service (BCS) cadres, excluding the administration cadre, have alleged discrimination in the recent process of granting retrospective promotions to retired government officials.

Officers from the administration cadre were given a significantly higher number of retrospective promotions than those from other cadres, Ahmed Ali Chowdhury Iqbal, coordinator of the "Coordination Council of Anti-Discrimination Retired Officers from 25 Cadres", said during a press conference at the Dhaka Reporters Unity today.

He said a total of 778 retired and deceased officers from the administration cadre had been granted retrospective promotions, whereas only 72 retired officers from the remaining 25 BCS cadres received the same benefit.

"In the name of verification and scrutiny, a large number of eligible officers were excluded without any valid reason, resulting in discrimination in the retrospective promotion orders for retired officers of the 25 cadres," he said.

The speakers also alleged that many important recommendations made by the Public Administration Reform Commission were ignored, while less significant and illogical matters were included in the July Charter, thereby weakening it.

They claimed that the "unlimited dominance and authoritative attitude" of the administration cadre had created inequality within the civil service and stood as a major obstacle to building a people-oriented, service-driven, and citizen-friendly administration.

The council demanded that the applications of all deprived officers from the 25 BCS cadres be reconsidered and that they receive retrospective salary adjustments and financial benefits similar to those given to the administration cadre.

They also urged the government to issue an ordinance incorporating key recommendations of the Public Administration Reform Commission (PARC) to eliminate disparities.

Retired officials from different cadres attended the event.