List of loan defaulter contestants in upazila polls being collected
Rezaul Karim | Friday, 31 January 2014
The Finance Ministry has issued a circular seeking a list of loan defaulting candidates for the upcoming fourth upazila parishad election, official sources said.
The Bank and Financial Institutions Division (BFID) under the Ministry of Finance (MoF) sent a circular Thursday to the Bangladesh Bank (BB) asking it to collect and provide information on loan defaulters.
The ministry circular also instructed the banks to remain prepared to give information to the returning officers concerned, if asked.
"Following a request from the Election Commission (EC) recently, the BFID sent the letter to the BB to prepare the list of bank loan defaulters who will contest the polls, sources said.
Punitive action will be taken against the respective returning officer for his failure to provide the correct information, said the letter.
The BB will ask for info on loan defaulters from the banks so that the EC can bar them from contesting the upazila parishad polls, the BB sources said.
According to the letter, a person shall be disqualified for contesting upazila election for the post of chairman, vice- chairman and women vice chairman, if he/she has taken any loan but has defaulted in repaying installments.
A person, who is a loan defaulter, shall not participate in the upazila parishad election, according to the Upazila Parishad Act-1998.
The manager of banks or financial institutions concerned will prepare an up-to-date list of loan defaulters according to existing law, the ministry circular said.
The ministry sources said the circular, sent to the Credit Information Bureau of the BB, requested for sending the list of defaulters to the returning officers so that they could cancel their nominations," the ministry source told the FE.
A BB official said, "We are ready to collect and provide the defaulters' info from the banks. The drive will start next week."
Bangladesh has 487 upazila parishads. Of these, terms of at least 115 upazila parishads will end in February, 223 in March, 35 in April, 85 in May and tenure of 18 others will end in June. Some 102 upazila parishads will go to polls on February 19 next.