Allegations of massive irregularities and bribery have been raised against senior officials at the Department of Livestock (DLS) and the ministry concerned regarding the recent recruitment of 86 class-IV employees at the department.
It is alleged that 86 candidates, who received their appointment letters from DLS authorities on September 11, were selected after a large amount of bribery money changed hands and it is claimed that many more irregularities were committed during the selection process.
Sources said senior officials at the DLS began making deals with candidates after the notice for the recruitment of class-IV employees was published in different newspapers. The candidates who could afford the sums allegedly paid the bribes before the written test.
Some candidates alleged that senior officials at the ministry and DLS bagged between Tk300,000 and Tk700,000 from each of the candidates. The family members of freedom fighters also said to have had paid Tk300,000 to Tk400,000 each.
Some DLS officials admitted the allegations, saying that most of the candidates who sat for the written test submitted their test papers without answering any questions. The officials who made the deals with the candidates later answered the questions and ensured the necessary marks for passing the test.
The DLS officials, seeking anonymity, said the corrupt officials gave their selected candidates sufficient marks during the VIVA exams which followed the written test, but the rest of the candidates were given poor grades.
In some cases, qualified candidates were even discouraged from attending the VIVA exam after being told that the candidates had already been selected, the sources said.
Senior officials at the department also considered recommendations coming from the offices of the minister, state minister and secretary (recently transferred) of the concerned ministry. But in most cases, only those who paid bribes earlier were appointed to the positions, the sources at DLS said.
DLS Director General Dr Mosaddek Hossain denied the bribery allegations.
He told the Dhaka Tribune that the job seekers were selected based on their qualifications, adding that no one secured any special preference on tests by paying bribes.
All processes were followed strictly and the higher authority of the concerned ministry monitored the selection process, the DLS director added.
State Minister for Livestock and Fisheries Abdul Hai told the Dhaka Tribune that he was not involved in the whole process of the recruitment. Senior ministry officials and the DLS had completed the process and recruited all 86 class-IV employees, he said.
The state minister said: “According to district’s quota, I may have had two employees from my district of Jhenaidah. But, I was not given that either. I had no deal in this regard.”
Livestock Minister Abdul Latif Bishwas told the Dhaka Tribune that the ministry did not recruit the employees, but rather the DLS authorities did.
However, the minister admitted making some recommendations to the DLS chief, saying: “It’s true that I sent some names, but not all of them were recruited.
Only the DLS officials know who was recruited and what the process of recruitment was.
“As a minister, I have to face the people of my electoral constituency and also requests from political leaders. But neither me nor my office took any money from anybody as bribes for recruiting them as DLS employees,” he added.
