Bangladesh Administrative Service Association (BASA) has expressed concern that the neutrality, efficiency and public trust in the country’s administration are being undermined by various pressures, undue influence and unwanted directives.

In response, the organisation has demanded that an independent ‘Administrative Service Commission’ be formed, in a statement issued on Friday.

The statement, signed by its President Md Nazrul Islam and General Secretary Sharaf Uddin Ahmad Chowdhury, emphasized the need for a professional, impartial administrative system.

Welcoming the government’s recent decision to establish a Police Commission to ensure the police force operates free from political influence, the BASA said that members of the administrative cadre play a critical role in running state functions but past governments had undermined their professionalism through political interference.

“To ensure accountable governance and good administration, the administration must remain free from political influence, bias, and unwanted intervention. Like modern democratic states, Bangladesh needs an efficient, neutral, and professional administrative framework,” the statement reads.

In this context, BASA has called for an Administrative Service Commission modeled after the Police Commission.

This independent, law-based institution would oversee appointments, promotions, and disciplinary matters for administrative cadre officers impartially.

The commission will include members from various professional backgrounds to ensure its independence and maintain the professional standards of the bureaucracy, it reads.