Authorities have suspended the salaries and allowances of a staffer of the Family Planning Office in Faridpur for unauthorized absence.
Chameli Sikder, who works as a family welfare assistant in Bhanga Upazila, had earlier been accused of collecting her pay whilst living in India.
The move comes following a report titled “Lives in India, collects salary from Bangladesh” published by Dhaka Tribune, based on local complaints, exposing the public servant’s irregularities.
Confirming the matter, Bhanga Upazila Family Welfare Officer Robin Biswas said that a show-cause notice was issued against Family Welfare Assistant Chameli Sikder after she was accused of being absent in the workplace without valid authorization.
“But as she failed to respond to the notice within the stipulated time, the authorities decided to suspend her salary and allowance effective from the first week of June,” he added.
Meanwhile, Mahbub Hossain, deputy director of the district family planning office, said departmental action would be taken after investigating the allegations against Chameli Sikder.
Also read - Lives in India, collects salary from Bangladesh
Chameli Sikder has a house in Pallibera village of Kawlibera union in Faridpur’s Bhanga upazila. She has been posted as a family welfare assistant in Bhanga for the last 10 years.
However, many locals said they did not know her as she reportedly lived in India for most of the year with her family members.
But that did not create any problems for her to draw her salaries and allowances every month without providing any service, added the locals.
Chameli Sikder's husband Sushanta Sikder is the assistant headmaster of Kawlibera Kazi Waliullah High School.
He too has been absent from work without notice for quite some time, even though the school is closed due to the pandemic, said Md Mejbahuddin, the headmaster of the school.
