Jamaat MP Shafiqul Islam Masud of Patuakhali-2 has opposed proposed changes to the written and viva voce marks distribution for government job recruitment, warning that the move could undermine transparency and create scope for politicisation, corruption and arbitrary decisions.
He raised the issue on a point of order during the third session of the 13th Parliament today (8 September).
Shafiqul Islam said changes were being proposed to the recruitment rules for employees in grades 11 to 20.
He said the move had been approved at a meeting of the Administrative Development-Related Secretary Committee, reportedly citing the need to prevent proxy examinations and other forms of cheating.
“We are very concerned to see that our current system is moving towards a process of politicisation, arbitrariness and, at the same time, running the country on the basis of quotas instead of merit,” he said.
He warned that the proposed changes could severely undermine transparency in recruitment and “create a path for corruption, irregularities in the administration and placing political people” in government jobs.
Proposed changes to marks
According Shafiqul Islam, for grades 11 and 12, the existing written-to-viva marks ratio of 10:90 is proposed to be changed to 50:50.
For grades 13 to 16, the existing 10:90 ratio is proposed to be changed to 40:60.
For grades 17 to 20, the existing 10:40 ratio is proposed to be changed to 25:75.
“I would only say through you that this parliament must take effective measures to ensure that our country is governed on the basis of merit, not quotas,” he said.
Speaker Hafiz Uddin Ahmed Bir Bikram later gave a ruling on the matter.
He said members could raise matters on a point of order if they concerned ongoing parliamentary business, involved an error or related to a breach of parliamentary rules.
“Since this does not concern ongoing parliamentary business, there is no discussion on this matter. There is no discussion on recruitment rules in parliament now. So this is not a point of order,” the speaker said.
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