THE New Nation on its report on Monday revealed the horrifying facts behind the appointment of a good number of officials of the Directorate of Food under the Food Ministry adopting widespread corruption in the appointment process. It was revealed that as much as 3,87,437 hopefuls appeared for written exams to compete for 552 Food Inspector posts in 2010 and even though 15,230 candidates passed the exams, many of the appointed officers were selected not based on merit, but their connection to a powerful syndicate who increased their failing grades in exchange for large sum of money.
The syndicate comprising of the present and the former top officials of Directorate of Food appointed 43 inspectors by tampering with their marks which was detected by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC)’s investigation team. The ACC’s Chairman told The New Nation correspondent that there is a widespread allegation that the irregularities lie in the appointment process and confirmed that 7 cases were filed against 53 government and private officials, including four deputy secretaries, on charge of appointing disqualified candidates in the Directorate of Food under the Food Ministry. The accused senior officials include one Deputy Secretary currently posted at the Textile and Jute Ministry, and Deputy Secretary of Public Administration Ministry, Deputy Secretary of Public Service Commission, Deputy Secretary of Public Administration and the Director of Food Directorate. The ACC identified 44 Food Inspectors who managed the job giving huge amount of money to the accused officials.
The lack of transparency in appointing public officials is abundantly clear and the records of the incompetent applicants who managed Food Inspector positions show that they are completely unsuited for their positions. Due to uncontrolled corruption in the selection process, the syndicate helped these unscrupulous officers to get away with it for years. The way the government is going about the issue is extremely irresponsible and completely unacceptable, not to mention dangerous, as these corrupt and incompetent Food Inspectors were/are in a position to harm the people’s interests without facing any consequences.
The selection process was not only corrupted but counterproductive as well, as deserving candidates were not considered making the selection process completely pointless. Merit had no consideration here. Corruption was the rules of the game. Officials so appointed would resort to total corruption to make-up their invested money as quickly as they can.
The syndicate comprising of the present and the former top officials of Directorate of Food appointed 43 inspectors by tampering with their marks which was detected by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC)’s investigation team. The ACC’s Chairman told The New Nation correspondent that there is a widespread allegation that the irregularities lie in the appointment process and confirmed that 7 cases were filed against 53 government and private officials, including four deputy secretaries, on charge of appointing disqualified candidates in the Directorate of Food under the Food Ministry. The accused senior officials include one Deputy Secretary currently posted at the Textile and Jute Ministry, and Deputy Secretary of Public Administration Ministry, Deputy Secretary of Public Service Commission, Deputy Secretary of Public Administration and the Director of Food Directorate. The ACC identified 44 Food Inspectors who managed the job giving huge amount of money to the accused officials.
The lack of transparency in appointing public officials is abundantly clear and the records of the incompetent applicants who managed Food Inspector positions show that they are completely unsuited for their positions. Due to uncontrolled corruption in the selection process, the syndicate helped these unscrupulous officers to get away with it for years. The way the government is going about the issue is extremely irresponsible and completely unacceptable, not to mention dangerous, as these corrupt and incompetent Food Inspectors were/are in a position to harm the people’s interests without facing any consequences.
The selection process was not only corrupted but counterproductive as well, as deserving candidates were not considered making the selection process completely pointless. Merit had no consideration here. Corruption was the rules of the game. Officials so appointed would resort to total corruption to make-up their invested money as quickly as they can.
