M M Jasim :Jesmin Akhter got 19 in a written examination, but the blessings of a powerful syndicate made it 91. Finally she has been appointed Food Inspector in the Directorate of Food under the Food Ministry.This is not the single case. A powerful syndicate comprising the present and the former top officials of Directorate of Food appointed 43 inspectors in the same way (tempering the marks). The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC)’s investigation team found the wrongdoing although the investigation is now under process. Ashma Islam got 26, yet she became the Food Inspector in the office of Directorate of Food. Md Tajul Islam secured 55 marks out of 100. But the marks were tempered to 89 and were recommended for appointment as inspector by underhand dealings. Md Zahirul Islam changed his attainting marks from 50 to 90. In the final process he received his job giving huge money to the officials of Directorate of Food. Apurbo Kumar Ray failed in the written examination with 25 marks. But he managed the Directorate of Food and got appointment. Asma Rahman was appointed with 89 marks, but actually she got 48. Somehow she managed the directorate to get an appointment. ACC Chairman Md Badiuzzaman told The New Nation that it was a wide spread allegation that the irregularities lied in the appointment process. The ACC has been investigating it for long. Horrible corruption was found in the appointment process. It was the case of number tempering, which was unethical and undesirable, he said.”The ACC filed cases against the involved persons in the corruption. It would submit charge sheet of the court after final investigation,” he said.The ACC on October 7 filed cases 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. Assistant-Director and Investigative Officer of ACC Md Monirul Islam filed the cases with the Shahbagh Police Station. The accused officials giving extra marks helped the disqualified candidates getting appointment. The accused officials bagged huge money from the candidates working in different districts as Food Inspectors. The accused senior officials are Deputy Secretary of Textile and Jute Ministry Nasima Begum (former Deputy Secretary of Food and Disaster Ministry), Deputy Secretary of Public Administration Ministry Rokeya Khatun (former Senior Assistant Secretary of the same ministry), Deputy Secretary of Public Service Commission Md Mahabubur Rahman Faruqui (former Deputy Director of the commission), Deputy Secretary of Public Administration Iftekhar Ahmed (former Deputy Director of Ministry of Establishment) and Director of Food Directorate Elahi Dad Khan. They were the members of selection board. The accused private service holders are Ayub Ali, Asadur Rahman, Arif Hossain and Abul Quasem of Development, an Information and Technology based organisation. The Directorate of Food appointed 328 Food Inspectors on May 5 last year. The ACC identified 44 Food Inspectors who managed the job giving huge amount of money to the accused officials.The ACC also filed cases against the 44 Food Inspectors. It may be mentioned that the Directorate of Food invited applications for 552 Food Inspector posts in 2010 and received 3,87,437 applications. Of them, 15,230 candidates were successful in written examination. The Viva-Voce started in 2013 and the appointment process was completed on May 5 in 2014. It was a wide spread allegation that the irregularities lied in the appointment process.
