Officer on Special Duty

2025-07-23T12:44:15Z

2A02:8012:227B:0:9C13:5B78:1D46:E572: updated page

{{Short description|Civil service position in South and Southeast Asia}}
'''Officer on Special Duty''' ('''OSD'''), or '''Special Duties Officer''', is an officer post in the [[civil services]] in [[Brunei]], [[Bangladesh]], [[India]], [[Malaysia]], and [[Pakistan]].

==Brunei==
'''Special Duties Officer''' (Pegawai Tugas-Tugas Khas) is an officer level of [[Civil Service (Brunei)|Brunei Darussalam's Civil Service]] which working under each ministry in Brunei. Brunei's Special Duties Officers can be differentiated by their position levels;

*Minister (Menteri)
**Deputy Minister (Timbalan Menteri)
*Permanent Secretary (Setiausaha Tetap)
**Grade A, B and C
*Deputy Permanent Secretary (Timbalan Setiausaha Tetap)
*Senior Special Duties Officer (Pengarah, Timbalan Pengarah)
**Superscale Special
**Superscale A, B and C
*Senior Special Duties Officer (Pegawai Tugas-Tugas Khas Kanan, Pegawai Kanan)
**Group 1, 2 and 3 (Bahagian 1, 2 and 3)
*Special Duties Officer (Pegawai Tugas-Tugas Khas)
** Grade 1 and Grade 2 (Tingkat 1 and Tingkat 2)

==India==

An officer on Special Duty is an officer in the [[Indian civil service]] of the status between a [[secretary]] and an [[undersecretary]] in the [[Government of India]].

The practice dates back to the [[British Raj|British colonial rule in India]], and was explained to the Central Legislative Assembly by a government spokesman in 1931 as follows:<ref>{{cite journal|title=Legislative Assembly Debates|journal=Parliament of British India|date=23 February 1931|volume=II|issue=2|page=1132}}</ref>

"There are two principal criteria in appointing an OSD in the civil services -
# When an officer by his appointment brings far greater economic benefit to the government than that spent in his appointment
# When there is an obligation on the government to take a certain action for the benefit of the larger good" <ref>{{cite book|last1=S.R.|first1=Maheshwari|title=Indian Administration|date=2003|publisher=Orient Longman Private Limited|location=New Delhi|isbn=812501988X|edition=6th}}</ref>

It is also sometimes used as a training post for a future higher level posting. For example, when [[Raghuram Rajan]] served as OSD in Union Finance Ministry before beginning the appointment for RBI Governor and also when S. Ranganathan was appointed the Comptroller and Auditor General, he was first appointed as an OSD to understudy the outgoing CAG A.K. Roy and subsequently given charge.

== Pakistan and Bangladesh ==
In [[Bangladesh]] and [[Pakistan]], it refers to a higher [[civil service]] officer with no assigned duties. While some promotions are due to political reasons, others are made because of an absence of a suitable post.<ref name="DailyStar">{{Cite web |url=http://www.thedailystar.net/news-detail-163505 |title=Promotions and OSD |date=2010-11-25 |website=The Daily Star |language=en |access-date=2017-11-11}}</ref> Certain officers view it as a "punishment" against a political view they had expressed.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/2017/12/24/osd-spend-day |title=How does an OSD spend his day? |date=2017-12-24 |website=Dhaka Tribune |access-date=2019-05-31}}</ref> It implies that the government does not have any suitable post for the officer, but the officers are paid full salaries.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://tribune.com.pk/story/1182785/sidelined-several-high-ranking-officers-working-osds/ |title=Sidelined? Several high-ranking officers working as OSDs - The Express Tribune |date=2016-09-17 |website=The Express Tribune |language=en-US |access-date=2017-11-11}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2019/02/27/number-of-high-ranking-osds-rises-to-44/ |title=Number of high-ranking OSDs rises to 44 |website=www.pakistantoday.com.pk |access-date=2019-05-31}}</ref> It is considered to be a stigma when an officer is designated as the OSD.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.dawn.com/news/729533 |title=Officers on special duty |last=Newspaper |first=the |date=2012-06-26 |website=DAWN.COM |language=en-US |access-date=2017-11-11}}</ref>

== References ==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Central Civil Services (India)]]
[[Category:Indian government officials]]
[[Category:Pakistani government officials]]
[[Category:Civil service of Pakistan]]
[[Category:Civil service in Bangladesh]]
[[Category:Bangladeshi civil servants]]

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Officer on Special Duty