Some retired employees of the Bangladesh Department of Cooperatives are facing difficulties in receiving their pensions, despite the majority of their colleagues have withdrawn their pension benefits.
Out of 133 employees, all, who were transferred from development projects to the revenue sector, received their full benefits.
But, 10 of the employees are facing unexpected hurdles as they have not received their exact benefit, raising questions about the transparency and accountability of pension system.
Allegations have surfaced that bureaucratic complications and negligence by officials caused serious problems for the employees of the Department of Cooperatives.
Former Joint Registrar (Admin) Rikta Dutta, Rural Development and Cooperatives deputy secretary Sidhartha Sankar Kundu and former Registrar Aminul Islam are accused of exploiting the situation by helping employees withdraw funds in exchange for bribes.
Confusion created following two notifications issued by finance division of the finance ministry on March 24, 2008 and on September 22, 2011.
The notifications mentioned that the service period of the employees from development project should be dropped. Against the order, the employees filed a writ petition in 2012 challenging the order issued by the finance division.
The court in a verdict in 2012 cancelled the orders of the finance division and asked the authorities concerned to consider service period of the employees for both project and revenue periods.
Instead of following the court order, the finance division executed the previous notifications.
The same notification reissued by Deputy Secretary SM Abdullah Al Mamun November 4, 2021, stating that the service period of the employees during their service in the revenue sector should take into consideration only.
Victims allege that they are not getting their benefits as the authorities concerned violated the order of the court.
Record shows that the Ministry of Public Administration issued a gazette notification on June 20 in 2005 mentioning that service periods for employees, transferred from development projects to regular posts, to be counted for both development and revenue periods while calculating benefits.
The said 10 employees are asking the authorities concerned to execute the 2005 gazette notification.
Over the pension hurdles, the officials concerned bypassed the finance ministry directive issued on March 24, 2008 and extended support to 172 employees to withdraw an additional Tk 16 crore, victims say.
The accused officials followed the directive of the finance ministry while giving the benefits to our colleagues but they followed it while giving our pension benefit.
Using the controversial order, they withheld the payments of those who refused to pay bribes, victims allege.
When asked for his comments on the allegations, Rural Development and co-operative Division deputy secretary Sidhartha Sankar Kundu denied the allegation saying, “We don’t always have all the information. We have just carried out the directives issued by the authorities concerned of Rural Development and Cooperative Division.”
He, however, did not give a proper reply on failing to follow the 2021 order.
“The then the Chief Accounts and Finance Officer of the Rural Development and Cooperative Division will be able to provide more details if any letters or objections regarding the victims from the accounts and administration sections of the Cooperative Department during that time,” he said.
“Since I am no longer in the previous position, I cannot comment in detail on this matter,” said Kundu, who is currently working at the Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change.
Another accused is Joint Registrar (Admin) Rikta Dutta. When asked about the allegations over the phone, she heard every allegations and cut the phone call instead of giving reply.
Despite repeated attempts, she could not be reached for comments.
While visiting her office, it was learnt that she was on leave. Rikta Dutta is currently serving as the Joint Registrar (Service Industry).
Former Audit and Accounts Officer Abul Kashem also hung up the phone without commenting on the allegations.
When asked for his comments, former Registrar Aminul Islam became annoyed. He then stated that Laila Sarkar or others who received less amount of money should reapply to the Registrar and seek a review of the order.
He added, “I have issued the directive according to the rules and regulations. Those who gave less amount of money are responsible for that. I am not responsible.”
He suggested contacting the Deputy Registrar (Admin) and Deputy Registrar (Finance) regarding this issue. He denied the allegations of monetary transactions.
On Tuesday (September 17), 2024, the victims submitted a petition seeking the intervention of the advisor responsible for the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives and the current Registrar and Director General of the Department of Cooperatives to claim their rightful ‘Gratuity and Pension’ in line with their entitlements.
In the petition, they put a reference of an order signed by SM Abdullah Al Mamun, Deputy Secretary of the Ministry of Finance, dated November 4, 2021, which instructed the Department of Cooperatives Deputy Registrar (Finance) to submit their gratuity and pension related files after deducting the project period.
The petitioners requested the necessary action in accordance with the 2020 Pension Simplification Order for Government Employees (Section 20.06 (a,f), with consideration for their circumstances.
Laila Sarkar, a former Assistant Registrar at the Department of Cooperatives in Dhaka, retired in 2022 and was entitled to around Tk 49 lakh. However, Tk 8 lakh was deducted from her pension without any explanation.
Talking to the Bangladesh Post on September 21, she described the decision as inhumane. Laila noted that she, along with 125 others, was recruited in 1984, and nearly all have received their payments.
She believes her funds were deliberately withheld by the Department of Cooperatives because she is in the 10th grade.
She further alleged that former Registrar and Director General of the Department of Cooperatives, Md Aminul Islam, issued a flawed order that initially granted her Tk 46.61 lakh. However, the amount was later reduced to Tk 41 lakh by Audit and Accounts Officer Md Abul Kashem, with no explanation provided by the department for the change.
She claimed that she had been unjustly treated, arguing that her pension is rightfully owed to her after a lifetime of service.
In response, she filed a case in 2022 against the relevant government departments in the Dhaka Administrative Tribunal-1 and also submitted a petition to the Secretary of the Rural Development and Cooperatives Ministry. However, both the case and the petition remain pending.
Daulat Hossain, a former government registrar at the Department of Cooperatives in Dhaka, retired in 2022 expecting a Tk 49 lakh pension but received only Tk 41 lakh due to an arbitrary decision.
He pointed out that colleagues appointed and promoted with him, including Harunur Rashid and others, received their full Tk 48.9 lakh gratuity and monthly pension Tk 21,285.
His Tk 8 lakh was withheld under a 2005 Ministry of Public Administration regulation, and he questioned why it wasn't applied to others.
Daulat Hossain added that while working on development projects, they were under the government salary scale and later received time scale and selection grade benefits after moving to the revenue sector.
He argued that the government cannot reduce benefits granted under its own regulations. For two years, he has been visiting the Controller General of Accounts' office, seeking the recovery of his remaining pension.
Several other retirees, including Abdur Razzak Mia, Champa Jowardar, Shahina Akter Dolly, Asadul Haque, Yousuf Hasan Chowdhury, Md Bazlur Rahman, Late Abdul Jalil Talukder and Late Mizanur Rahman have had large portions of their pensions withheld due to official negligence.
Many claim their payments were withheld because they refused to pay bribes, and they questioned what actions the Rural Development and Cooperatives Division has taken regarding others who bypassed the same regulations.
Under the circumstances, the current Registrar and Director General (Additional Secretary) of the Department of Cooperative Md Shariful Islam discussed the issue with the victims on Tuesday (September 17).
Talking to the Bangladesh Post, Shariful Islam acknowledged that the victims had been subjected to discrimination.
“Since all those appointed under the same recruitment process have received their funds, a solution or comment can be provided after reviewing the Ministry and Finance Department’s documents in response to the victims' application,” he said.
On September 16, the government formed a five-member committee to investigate the appeals of government officials who were reportedly deprived of promotion and service benefits over the past 16 years.
This information was announced in a circular signed by Md Abdur Rauf, Additional Secretary of the Recruitment, Promotion, and Deputation Division of the Ministry of Public Administration, on September 16.
The five-member committee is headed by former Finance Secretary Zakir Ahmed Khan.
