Cabinet gets new secretary in less than a month

The government has appointed Senior Secretary for Energy and Mineral Resources Division Md Mahbub Hossain as the new cabinet secretary, according to a gazette notification by the Ministry of Public Administration on Tuesday.

Md Mahbub Hossain replaces Kabir Bin Anwar, who was appointed to the post on 10 December last year. But Kabir bin Anwar went on post-retirement leave on Tuesday – leading the appointments to the top two posts of civil administration in less than a month.

Prior to his current role, Mahbub Hossain was a senior secretary of the Energy and Mineral Resources Division and also served as the secretary of the Secondary and Higher Education Division.

Outgoing cabinet secretary Kabir Bin Anwar was appointed to the post on 10 December last year, but he assumed office a couple of days later replacing 22nd cabinet secretary Khandker Anwarul Islam.

Khandker Anwarul went on post retirement leave on 15 December 2022.      

Earlier, changes were made in the posts of principal secretary to the prime minister and secretary of the Prime Minister's Office.

Md Mahbub Hossain graduated with a BSS in sociology from the University of Dhaka in 1984, and an MSS in the same subject in 1985.

He also obtained an MBA from the University of North London in 2001 and an MA in gender and development from the University of Melbourne in 2007.

Hossain, a member of the 1986 (8th) batch of the BCS, joined the civil service in 1989.

He has served the Ministry of Commerce, the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Planning Commission, the Prime Minister's Office, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and the Local Government Division since then, holding the posts of assistant secretary, senior assistant secretary, deputy secretary, joint secretary and additional secretary.

The new cabinet secretary also served as secretary of the Secondary and Higher Education Division from 2019 to 2022 before becoming the senior secretary of the Energy and Mineral Resources Division.