Wasteful spending keeps staff unpaid
Questions over financial discipline and accountability have surfaced at the Bangladesh Rural Development Board (BRDB) after a costly workshop for a rural livelihood project was held in Cox’s Bazar while thousands of project employees reportedly remain without regular salaries.
The two-day workshop for the Rural Livelihood Project (Pojeep), held on Saturday and Sunday at Motel Shoibal, was ostensibly organised to strengthen loan activities.
But allegations have emerged that a large number of BRDB officials travelled to the tourist city with their families, turning what was meant to be an official programme into an opportunity for leisure, according to sources and BRDB employees.
The allegations have raised broader concerns about good governance and the use of public project funds, particularly as around 6,500 project officials and staff reportedly do not receive regular salaries.
According to employees, their remuneration is linked to interest and service charges recovered from loans, while inadequate loan funds have further aggravated the situation.
They allege that prolonged financial hardship has forced many workers to leave their jobs, while some have died without adequate medical treatment and others have taken their own lives under the burden of debt.
The contrast between the situation of field-level employees and the reported spending on the Cox’s Bazar programme has prompted criticism from BRDB’s employees’ representatives.
More than 150 people attended the workshop, but only 37 were poor loan beneficiaries and 21 were field organisers, according to information gathered by employees.
More than 50 BRDB officials from the Dhaka headquarters, along with almost the entire Pojeep head office team, reportedly travelled to Cox’s Bazar with their families.
BRDB Director General and Additional Secretary A K M Tarek reportedly stayed with his family at Hotel Saimon, while Field Director and Joint Secretary Md Monowar Uz Zaman stayed at Hotel Jaltarango. Project Director Alauddin Sarkar and Deputy Project Director Gopal Chandra Saha reportedly stayed with their families at Motel Upal.
While officials travelled from Dhaka, poor participants were reportedly given only Tk 1,000 each, while field workers received no separate travel allowance.
BRDB CBA president Monirul Haque expressed strong concern over the spending pattern.
“The staff have nothing to eat, many are taking their own lives for lack of money, and these officials are enjoying a beach holiday in the name of a workshop,” he said, describing the situation as a serious failure of accountability.
He said that across 464 upazilas, only Rural Development Officers, Assistant Rural Development Officers and accountants receive regular salaries, while around 6,500 other BRDB project workers have to generate their own remuneration.
He questioned the justification for spending large sums of project money on workshops while field-level employees remain in financial distress and called for urgent government intervention.
CBA general secretary Abdul Mannan also alleged that Pojeep Project Director Alauddin Sarkar frequently organises costly programmes, which, he claimed, waste public money and provide benefits to senior officials without improving the situation of project employees.
“Pojeep Project Director Alauddin Sarkar organises such lavish events every so often, wasting government money, currying favour with senior authorities and personally benefiting from it,” he said.
He further alleged that the project was now facing serious difficulties because of corruption and financial irregularities among some officials. He called for an investigation by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) and intervention by the ministry concerned.
The allegations come at a time when BRDB continues to operate a number of rural development and livelihood programmes.
Its project website lists field organisers, assistant rural development officers, accounts assistants and other project personnel among its workforce, while recent notices show continuing loan and training activities under its rural employment programmes.
The reported disparity between the treatment of poor beneficiaries, field workers and senior officials has therefore raised questions about whether project expenditure is being directed towards its stated poverty-alleviation objectives.
Repeated telephone calls to Project Director Alauddin Sarkar seeking his response went unanswered. A WhatsApp message sent to him also received no reply.
The allegations of financial irregularities and misuse of project funds could not be independently verified.
Any specific wrongdoing would require examination of the project’s expenditure records, workshop documents and relevant administrative approvals.
