Md Rifatul Islam graduated from Dhaka University of Engineering and Technology in Civil Engineering in 2018. Two years later, he saw the recruitment notice for the position of Scientific Officer of the River Research Institute (RRI). He applied for the post.
In 2022, he got the recruitment recommendation following an examination in 2021. The necessary police verification and health checkup were also completed. But he could not join the office due to a delay in the recruitment.
The authorities said the recruitment has been stopped due to a complaint made through the Grievance Redressal System (GRS) of the government. Finally, after a year of waiting, his appointment was cancelled.
The authorities informed him that there were irregularities in the appointment, and the reason on paper was that the appointment of scientific officers was not done based on merit. According to the information, candidates from two particular subjects were given preference in the recruitment. After waiting months to join, Rifat was devastated as the appointment was cancelled.
Not only Rifat but also seven others had to go through the same fate. Two of them have joined elsewhere. However, the rest of them are still trying for a job. They have filed a case as well. But their lives came to a standstill.
On the other hand, the RRI has not been able to appoint a scientific officer even in three years.
According to various documents, the institute published the recruitment notice for nine scientific officers on September 2, 2020. Recruitment circulars were published in some other posts as well.
On December 15, 2021, the exam date was announced, and December 24 was set for the test. After the examination, the result of the written examination was published on 24 March 2022, and the oral examination was scheduled to be held on the 8th and 9th April of that year.
A meeting (52nd) of the Board of Governance of the RRI was then held on 10 August 2022. The meeting recommended the appointment of seven persons who passed the recruitment test.
Back then, the Director General of RRI was Md Alimuddin. On September 13, 2022, the recruitment information was published on the website by the River Research Institute. On that basis, the candidates underwent police verification and health checkups.
Sources say that Alimuddin retired immediately after that meeting. New Director General SM Abu Horaira joined the office. After that, the appointment was suspended.
On the other hand, the final candidates contacted the DG. However, he said that it will be resolved soon. Then the candidates submitted a written complaint to the Secretary of the Ministry of Water Resources. Consequently, the final recommenders also filed a complaint with the GRS.
The minutes of the monthly meeting of the RRI held on March 1, 2023, said that the appointment of seven scientific officers was suspended due to the complaint made through the GRS.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Water Resources investigated the complaint made through the GRS. According to the investigation conducted by Salma Zafarin, the additional secretary of the administration sub-division of the ministry, the appointment of scientific officers was not based on merit, where candidates from two particular subjects were given preference. Besides, the investigators asked the related authorities to take action as a merit-based recruitment system was not followed.
However, there was no recommendation to cancel the appointments.
Then on September 18, 2023, another meeting of the RRi (53rd) discussed the issue.
Director General Abu Huraira said the final recommendations and subsequent activities have been completed properly. At the same time, they sought the Board's decision on the matter, highlighting the recommendation of the GRS inquiry. Senior officials of the ministry were also present at the meeting.
At the meeting, it was decided that the cancellation of the appointment of the finally selected scientific officers would be notified in writing. Apart from this, the recruitment process of the candidates applying for that post will be completed again with written and oral examinations.
However, the cancellation of the appointment was not disclosed on the website. The cancellation of the appointment of the recommended officers is intimated through a confidential letter by post.
The Board of Directors of the RRI decided to cancel the appointment but did not take any opinion of the appointment committee. Even the opinion of the Buet conducting the examination was not taken into account.
As a result of this, a writ (petition number 15622/2023) was filed in the High Court last year by five of the candidates. Given this, the High Court postponed the decision to cancel the appointment of the RRi for six months and issued a rule asking for the reasons for the cancellation of the appointment within four weeks.
In addition, on September 18, they filed another complaint with the president of the RRI managing board and the adviser of the related ministry.
In the complaint, the job seekers said: “In the complaint filed in the Grievance Redressal System (GRS) of the government, it was claimed that 690 job aspirants from various departments appeared for the test. After the written and oral examination, the recruitment committee recommended seven people for appointment. Of them, there were five civil engineering students and two soil science students. According to complainant Khandaker Ehsanur Rahman, he has doubts because of the appointment from two specific departments.”
He said, "Originally, there were 13 departments eligible for applications. Alimuddin, who was the Director General of the RRI at that time, prioritized the two departments and gave the final appointment. No one was selected from Electrical Mechanical, despite getting the necessary marks. All of us have taken exams in Buet.
“Based on this, five civil candidates are recommended; possibly six take the oral test. Five were recommended. Two out of three students who take the oral exam are also finalists. That's why it is suspected that there is no one from any other category. Complain about this. They are civil students. We question, why not taken as per mark? There were nine notifications. Seven people have been appointed; the remaining two could have been taken from some other department. Such a decision was made. But later, those who were appointed filed a case. It is currently under leave to appeal after disposal of the appeal.”
Asked whether there is an obligation to select candidates according to their departmental identities, he said: "Not so much. But as we have said, it should be done considering the marks obtained.”
The recruitment circular shows the educational qualification and experience in Civil Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Water Resources Strategy, Agricultural Engineering, River Engineering, Hydraulics, Hydrology, Water Resources Strategy, Environmental Science, or equivalent in CGPA with Second Class or equivalent. A degree or CGPA with first class or equivalent in Physics, Applied Physics, Mathematics, Applied Mathematics, Soil Science, or equivalent is preferred for the service.
Apart from this, the two-page recruitment circular did not mention anything about which department’s candidates would or would not be recruited.
Alimuddin, the former DG of RRI, said: “The appointment was made through a committee. The committee had a secretary, a Buet representative, a representative from the RRI, and a representative from the Water Development Board. Everyone followed the compliance and abiding by the rules and regulations. We send the final list to the ministry.”
The recruitment test was conducted by the Department of Water Resources Engineering of Buet. The department head, Dr Nasreen Sultana, said: “We have done the whole thing transparently. No room for opacity. If they have done any investigation, they can tell. But I have no opinion on the matter.”
Director General of River Research Institute SM Abu Huraira said: “I joined here in November 2022. The governing body cancelled it soon after I joined. There was a complaint in the GRS, in view of which the governing body cancelled it. Our decision on this matter was to be re-notified. Those who applied earlier need not apply again. But those who were recommended went to the High Court. As the case is ongoing, I cannot do anything about it. Institutions are suffering because of it.”
However, as claimed by the job seekers, the recruitment was cancelled after about 10 months of joining Abu Huraira. He overzealously instigated the cancellation of appointments based on baseless allegations. Job aspirants complain that this Director General has obstructed the recruitment process.
Shah Alam, a job seeker, said: "We got the results. Police verification was also done along with a health checkup. Then I contacted the office, but the DG said there was a problem and it would take some time. The office secretary advised me to meet his boss. But I could not meet him even after trying. At one stage, it was informed that a complaint had been filed. Since then I have been visiting the RRI and the Ministry of Water Resources.
“But they keep blaming each other. Then they said the test would be held once again. We have sent many letters to the RRI. But they did not pay any heed to that. As a last resort, I made a written complaint to the adviser of the Ministry of Water Resources, but I did not get any reply from him either. We feel harassed by the system. People ask me if I have a job. I say yes, but in reality, I don't have a job. I am in such an embarrassing situation.”
Another job seeker, Rifatul Islam, said: "The family and well-wishers were very happy after hearing the news of my joining. After the cancellation of the appointment, I felt ashamed to go in front of them; I could not show my face to them. The RRI has given recruitment notifications for 14 more categories, and they are now working with the RRI. Although our recruitment test was conducted, we are not getting the recruitment letter.”
