Health Ministry Accused of Backdating Promotion List to Swap Out Senior Doctors
At least six names on a 25-member deputy secretary shortlist were replaced, documents show; sources point to the joint secretary in charge of personnel
A list of 25 health cadre officers recommended for promotion to deputy secretary was altered after it reached the health ministry, with at least six names swapped and the new list carrying an old date, according to documents seen by this newspaper and multiple ministry sources.
The sources allege that Joint Secretary (Personnel) Md. Mustafizur Rahman and newly posted Deputy Secretary Dr. Umme Hani halted the file midway, replaced names in exchange for financial benefits, and bypassed the officials responsible for it, Joint Secretary (Personnel-2) Saiful Islam and Additional Secretary Khorshed Alam.
The Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) had invited applications in September from BCS (Health) officers up to the 33rd batch who had completed ten years of service, including five in the senior scale, following letters from the public administration and health ministries. A seniority list of 25 officers was then sent to the ministry with the director general’s approval. Sources say Saiful Islam forwarded the file upward for approval.
Same memo, same date
A replacement DGHS letter, memo no. 786, states at the top that it “will replace the memo of the same number and date”. Although it was issued later, it carries the earlier date: 5 October 2026. The attached list bears the same date beside the signatures of four officials, including Director General Prof. Dr. Prabhat Chandra Biswas. Sources describe this as backdating.
A comparison of the two lists shows six officers dropped: Dr. Muhammad Rezwanul Haque, Dr. Shamima Hossain Khan, Dr. Md. Anwar Hossain, Dr. A.S.M. Fateh Akram, Dr. Rabeya Khatun and Dr. Nuzhat Nadia, and six added. Sources put the number at seven or eight.
The new list’s own data raise seniority questions. Newly added Dr. Mubashshira Binte Alam joined service on 15 January 2015, more than five months after the rest of the 33rd batch, with a merit position of 4,493. Dr. Md. Nur-e-Alam Khan’s merit position, 5,929, is the lowest on the list. Officers senior to both by code number were removed.
A case that counted, and one that didn’t
A ministry note dated 27 October proposed removing Dr. Md. Khalid Saifullah because a 2021 departmental case over procurement irregularities is pending against him, cutting the list to 24.
Yet Dr. Nur-e-Alam Khan, one of the new additions, has faced a departmental case since 10 February 2026 over unauthorised absence from his workstation, in which he was asked to show cause why he should not be dismissed or given another major penalty. A copy of that charge sheet went to the office of the Joint Secretary (Personnel). The note does not mention it.
The note is signed by an administrative officer, an assistant secretary and the joint secretary (personnel). The space above Saiful Islam’s name is blank. The note describes the proposal as one that can be settled at the secretary’s level.
Sources further allege that some of the new names lack five years of annual confidential reports and that some are members of Swachip, the pro-Awami League doctors’ body. Attaching a new list without the signatures of the additional secretary and the joint secretary (personnel-2) is unlawful, they say. “They bypassed authority, managed the secretary and pinned false tags on the eligible,” one source alleged.
Aggrieved officers have demanded an investigation and a list drawn up strictly by seniority before it goes to the public administration ministry.
