Top officials hired with invalid experience certificates

Bangla Press Desk:  A number of senior officials at the Islamic Foundation, a body under the Ministry of Religious Affairs, have been serving in key positions for years based on invalid or forged experience certificates, a government probe has revealed.

According to findings by a high-powered investigation committee, several officers – including four deputy directors, two senior programme officers, an administrative officer, and others – were appointed in violation of recruitment rules. The committee has submitted its report to the Ministry of Religious Affairs, recommending necessary action.

Most of the irregular appointments were made through a recruitment circular issued on 15 January 2023, according to the report.The Daily Sun obtained a copy of the investigation report.

Invalid experience certificates

The job circular required candidates for deputy director posts to hold a second-class postgraduate degree (or equivalent madrasa degree) and eight years of first-class work experience in a government or autonomous institution.

However, the probe found that Deputy Director (DD) Yasin Arafat was appointed based on experience as Assistant General Manager at Palli Bidyut Samity which the committee said did not qualify under the rules.

Similarly, DD Rezaul Karim submitted experience from a development project under the Tangail Polytechnic Institute.

The Ministry of Public Administration (MoPA) has clarified that experience from development projects cannot be counted for recruitment to revenue-budget posts in autonomous institutions.

DDs Ariful Islam and Mehedi Hassan also presented experience from the Secondary Education Sector Investment Program (SESIP), a project post, making their appointments invalid.
Asked, DD Yasin refused to talk on the issue and said, “You can go through the Bangladesh Rural Electric Board (BREB) law.”

DD Rezaul said, “As per my understanding, the experience certificate I submitted during my processing was correct.”

DDs Ariful and Mehedi could not be reached over the phone after repeated attempts.

Senior programme officers and others

Senior Programme Officer Md Rakibul Hasan showed experience as Livestock Extension Officer under the National Agricultural Technology Program Phase-2 Project (NATP-2), while Senior Programme Officer Zahir Uddin Mohammad Babar used an SESIP experience certificate. Both were declared ineligible.

The probe also found irregularities in the appointment of Health Trainer-cum-Medical Officer Mobashir Ibn Mahtab, who used contractual experience at Rajshahi Police Hospital and Adamjee EPZ Medical Centre, which does not meet the criteria for a permanent post.

Administrative Officer Md Ibrahim Hossain was similarly appointed in 2017 using experience from a development project under the Mosque-Based Children and Mass Education Program.

The committee found his appointment invalid under MoPA regulations.

Rakib and Ibrahim could not be reached.

Irregularities in earlier appointments

The investigation also highlighted serious procedural violations in the appointment of Accounts Officer Mesbah Uddin.

He was first appointed as Store Assistant in 2010 based on private-sector experience at Mukta Offset Press, which did not meet the job criteria.

Later, in 2017, he was appointed Accounts Officer using an experience certificate from Jamiaatul Falah Mosque Complex, Chattogram – a position that the committee found nonexistent.

The investigation further noted that Mesbah Uddin’s 2017 appointment was made based on unapproved minutes of a selection committee meeting held on 26 November 2016, in violation of the Islamic Foundation Act, 1975. The Board of Governors never approved that meeting’s proceedings, rendering his appointment “unauthorized and unlawful”.

Lower-tier irregularities

Even lower-level recruitment was not free from malpractice, found the investigation. Operator Md Azim Mia was appointed in 2014 based on ineligible experience certificates from various temporary and private-sector jobs, including at the Islamic Foundation’s own digital project.

The committee said his appointment was made before approval of the Board of Governors, making it illegal.

Foundation’s response

Islamic Foundation Director General Abdus Salam Khan told the Daily Sun, “We are treating the probe committee’s findings with top priority.

After categorising the irregularities into major, moderate, and minor types, we will place the report before the Board of Governors for action.”

BP/SP