BB officials stage demo against contractual appointment bid,Central bank moves to take action against 22 officials

Bangladesh Bank on Sunday decided to take action against 22 officials after around 300 officials staged demonstrations against a controversial bid of the central bank to appoint a general manager on contractual basis. The BB will serve show-cause notice today on 22 leaders of different associations of officials asking them why action will not be taken against them for staging demonstrations during office hours, said sources in BB. The officials will be given three days to reply, they said. The central bank took the decision after the board of directors at a meeting in the evening expressed dissatisfaction over the demonstrations by the officials. Before the board meeting, the officials led by Bangladesh Bank Officers Welfare Council staged demonstrations against the BB bid to appoint former GM Deb Prasad Debnath as GM on contractual basis at the Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit. They handed over a letter to all board members of the central bank asking them not to appoint him as GM on contractual basis. BB board backtracked from appointing Debnath, who is close to BB high ups including governor Atiur Rahman, on contractual basis. But the board decided to pursue the BB aim to appoint a GM or consultant on contractual basis at the BFIU, this time by issuing open tender, said BB officials. BB board member Mustafa Kamal Mujeri told New Age on Sunday that the central bank board had decided to appoint a GM or consultant for the BFIU by issuing open tender. He said experienced persons including the central bank officials would be allowed to apply for the post. The BB board took the decision in the greater interest of the central bank’s good governance, Mujeri said. Earlier while delivering speech, the officers’ council president, Siddiqur Rahman Molla, at the demonstrations said that they (BB officials) would organise more demonstrations in the days to come if BB governor was adamant to appoint the person as GM on contractual basis. The council will prevent the appointment of the contractual GM in the interest of the central bank’s regular officials, he said. The council on June 17 issued a letter to the governor saying that the initiative of appointing a contractual GM at the BFIU created frustration and distraction among the central bank’s officials. Such type of appointment will create obstacle to ensuring good governance in the BB and it will also hinder the development of the skill of the central bank’s officers, according to the council letter. A BB official told New Age on Sunday that as the governor’s bid to appoint Debnath was foiled, he might have resorted to retaliation by taking action against the BB officials. The governor took the decision solely as Debnath had been maintaining a warm relation with the central bank governor for long, he said. ‘The recruitment policy and process of central bank has been fair for years. Now, some quarter is trying to destroy it by appointing officials without any competition on contractual basis,’ he said. The central bank has recently faced lack of good governance and widespread criticism due to irregularities held in rescheduling of the defaulted loans. News Courtesy: www.cnn.com