Government auditors have unearthed irregularities in appointing some 731 officials to the state-owned Basic Bank causing the bank a loss of about Tk 15.9 million (1.59 crore) every month.
Official sources said the office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of Bangladesh in its latest audit on the bank revealed that about Tk 15.9 million went to the waste every month for such recruitments made by bending rules. The audit started on September 15, 2013. The recruitment-related papers and personal documents were reviewed before preparing the audit report by the commercial audit directorate of the CAG.
They found out that the specialized Basic Bank had appointed 731 people--from assistant officer to deputy general manager--without publishing any advertisements in national dailies or on its own website by mentioning the position, requisite educational qualifications, experience and age.
Also there were recruitments made without collecting any curriculum vitae and taking any test. Even people with several third classes in their academic qualifications were given the banking jobs and their CVs were collected after issuance of appointment letters.
The bank also did not take any competitive written test or viva voce, as per rules, after verifying the CVs of the applicants collected through advertisements. Thus the recruitment rules were "flouted", the audit report says.
Besides, the recruitment committee of the bank also did not comply with article 29 of the Constitution which guarantees equal rights to all in recruitment for any government organisation.
The recruitment committee comprising then managing director (MD) Kazi Fakhrul Islam, DMDs Sheikh Monjur Morshed, Fazlus Sobhan, Monaem Khan and Ruhul Alam, general manager (GM) SM Rawshanul Haque and AGM M Anisuzzaman "violated the principles" laid down in the Constitution, according to the findings.
Moreover, the committee did not follow the rules of the establishment ministry which mentions the maximum age for entry into any government, semi-government, autonomous or nationalised organisation's job as 30. But the recruitment committee appointed people aged 53 years in "flagrant violation" of the criteria.
Seeking anonymity, a high official of the Basic Bank admitted the irregularities in the recruitment process, saying that the recruitment committee had violated service rules.
"As the main perpetrators are no more with the bank, the present board has not thought deeply about the issue," he added.
About action against the wrongly-appointed officials, the source close to the board said the appointees were not the culprits and that their dismissal would be a cumbersome process. Still the present authority of the bank had dismissed about 15 recruited personnel holding fake certificates.
He, however, demanded exemplary punishment to the persons involved in the unprecedented irregularities with the recruitment process, especially by the finance ministry and ultimately by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC).
Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) executive director Iftekharuzzaman told the FE that the matter should be resolved as it had been detected by the CAG.
"Action must be taken against those involved in the illegal recruitment process along with those who have got appointment, either under banking law or under the laws of the land, maybe, the law on fraudulence," he said when his comment was sought on the recruitment scam.
Differing on the view that the appointees were not guilty, Mr Iftekhar said it is also a crime, if anyone involves himself in the illegal recruitment process in a government institution.
Expressing his surprise over the recent comment of the finance minister on the Basic Bank scam, the TIB boss said it was also tantamount to "patronizing and getting involved in a crime, if a senior minister cannot punish the culprits despite knowing everything".
Finance Minister AMA Muhith recently told the parliament that action would be taken against the culprits behind the Basic Bank scam, once the probe report by its board of directors was available.
"They all are accused of forgery. They get support of our men (political party). This is why I'm very angry. I want such an action so that no one can dare to do so in the future," he said.
The finance minister for the first time pronounced the name of the former Basic Bank chairman as the main culprit. But the ACC is yet to take any action on the issue of swindling billions of public money by the chairman and some of the officials of the state-owned bank.
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731 recruited for BASIC Bank in breach of rules
Kamrun Nahar | Published: July 16, 2015 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00
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