Officers deprived of promotion from state-owned Sonali, Agrani, Janata and Rupali banks formed a human chain in front of the central bank on Sunday, demanding an end to discrimination in promotion.

They alleged that widespread supernumerary promotions were granted after the political changeover without following any rules, leaving many qualified officials sidelined. Speakers accused the Financial Institutions Division (FID) of unwarranted interference in the promotion process.

The protesters demanded merit-based promotions under regular vacancies and updated organograms, along with proper evaluation of those who were denied promotion during the previous Awami League government due to political reasons.

According to them, the current interim government has already addressed discrimination by promoting government officials—active and retired—by 1–3 steps since 2024. But despite thousands of supernumerary promotions in state-owned banks in 2024, no measures were taken to resolve long-standing discrimination faced by genuinely deprived bank officials.

They also alleged that instead of addressing the issue in 2025, the FID introduced a new ‘post assimilation’ directive that further deprives many officers, resulting in no progress in the promotion process this year.

The officials claimed a vested group in the ministry is pushing discriminatory policies to create instability in the banking sector and project the previous government as the better alternative.

To restore discipline in the sector, they placed a three-point demand, including an end to what they termed illegal interference by the FID in matters such as promotions, incentives, loan approval, organogram updates and post assimilation—areas that legally fall under the authority of bank boards as per the Vendor’s Agreement and Memorandum and Articles of Association. They also demanded cancellation of all related directives previously issued by the ministry.

They further urged the authorities to issue a circular seeking applications from officials who faced discrimination between 2009 and August 4, 2024, and ensure at least one promotion for them by December this year.

The protesters also called for a transparent and modern promotion policy modeled after the Bangladesh Bank system.