Newspapers reported that local people discovered huge amounts of “discarded” notes of Bangladesh Bank in a pond of Chandai village under Shahjahanpur upazila in Bogura yesterday. They first noticed it on Sunday after the bank notes started to wash up on the banks of the waterbody. The old and torn currency notes were supposed to be disposed at a designated place by burning but the driver of a Bogura municipality truck who was given the task to carry it there to dump them it in the pond.
Bangladesh Bank Bogura branch had around 1800 sacks of abandoned currency notes that they wanted to discard but they did not want to burn the notes as “it would pollute” the environment, the acting Executive Director of BB (Bogura Branch) Jagannath Chandra Ghosh was quoted as saying according to media. Some of the sacks full of rejected notes were handed over the municipality on Saturday as they are tasked with disposal of waste.
We must say, it’s a childish task of BB Bogura branch. It is unbelievable that so much discarded bank notes contains in 1800 sacks were available in a branch office. The government’s reliance on lies of incompetent officials has created an atmosphere of disbelief.
According to information available, the BB authorities sent a request letter to Mayor of Bogura municipality on August 22 to dump 240 sacks of shredded notes out of 1800 sacks. In line with the process, Bogura Municipal authorities took the initiative to dump the sacks. But the truck driver who lives near the Chandai village dumped the rejected notes in the waterbody by the Khaura bridge on Sunday.
Usually, as per BB directives the old and torn bank notes from 1 to 50 are burned to destroy. But the notes ranging from 100 to 1000 are sent to ‘shredding machines’ to cut in pieces. Later, these are used to be dumped at an isolated place.
When law enforcing agencies have been conducting raids against the casino owners and other ruling party’s men and women engaged in robbing money to recover huge amounts of “shredded money” were thrown in pond water.
What’s disgusting is that nobody wants to take responsibility of any important task. Everybody feels free for the reason that they are not accountable to anyone. Like other government organizations and departments, every tier of the banking system has been politicised allowing the officials to be incompetent, if not corrupt. And Bangladesh Bank is the worst example of not dealing with big irregularities of big party men of the government. The whole banking sector is directionless because Bangladesh Bank has no clear direction to conduct its business.
Because the government has crippled the economy and helped its followers plunder public money the people have no money to pay anymore by way of extortion or undue pressure. Bangladesh Bank is doing exactly the same by putting pressure under pretext of one or other on the people facing hardship for the mismanaged economy.
Those who are defaulters of hundreds of crore of takas have been remaining untouched for the reason that the corrupt ones have to be protected. No question is raised for writing off thousands of takas of the favoured persons in the government.
Letters are written to the banks to explain why small amounts of interest were readjusted for overcoming financial difficulties of those who honestly did business with banks and made them earn hundreds of takas in interest.
Please have competent bankers in Bangladesh Bank. When time and opportunity come for proving accountability the officials of Bangladesh Bank will have a lot to explain and a lot to hide.
