A survey carried out on 1,007 public servants found that 64 percent of them believe it’s difficult to be dismissed from civil service.

The findings of the study, funded by the UK Department for International Development and the British Academy, were revealed at an event held at the National Press Club in Dhaka on Wednesday (Mar 6).

The survey, covering covered officials from ministries and department, generated more than 23,000 observations and is the largest nationwide survey ever been conducted in Bangladesh.

For Bangladesh, the survey shows that civil servants are satisfied with their jobs, committed to working in the public sector and motivated to serve the public. However, their level of motivation to work is low, compared to other countries.

The report also reveals that awareness of conflict of interest situations in the public sector is limited, and in need of improvement among the civil servants in Bangladesh.

It observed that personal and political connections are more important to lower-ranking officers than to higher-ranking ones. Moreover, only a relative minority of civil servants indicated that they could easily find a better-paid job in the private sector.

This suggests that the civil service salaries are competitive, especially for the lower and middle ranks. On the other hand, many civil servants are dissatisfied with their salaries, deeming them insufficient to sustain their families.

The overwhelming majority indicated that good performance is not reflected in salary levels and increases. The research found that a sectoral approach would reflect a state of the art move to anti-corruption and integrity management in the public sector.