BNP-Jamaat rule: Tarique Rahman made PSC a hotbed of corruption for recruiting party activists

When the BNP-Jamaat government was in power from 2001 to 2006, the government made the Public Service Commission (PSC) a hotbed of corruption. Question leaks and recruitment trading began on a mass scale with the appointment of party activists as PSC officers and staff. As a result, it became difficult for talented students from ordinary families to get government jobs. The results of three BCS exams were tempered through PSC according to the list provided by Tarique Rahman from Hawa Bhaban.

On February 28, 2007, the Jugantor published a report about it. After getting clearance from the BNP-Jamaat high-ups, candidates got government jobs by paying money to the PSC officials. The price of the job was determined according to the grade. A minimum of Tk 2 lakh to Tk 10 lakh was charged for third and fourth-grade positions. Based on the situation, they leaked question papers, tempered exam answer sheets and changed marks.

Tarique Rahman used to send a list of about half a hundred names every time from Hawa Bhaban alone for the police and administration cadre of BCS. When 42 Chhatra Dal-Shibir cadres passed as Police ASPs in the 24th BCS, the matter became clear to people across the country. The BNP-Jamaat government did the same thing in the 25th and 26th BCS. Twenty students from Bogra and Azizul Colleges were recruited into the police cadre. Even 300 Chhatra Dal leaders were appointed as election commission officers according to the Hawa Bhaban list.

The children of ordinary families were deprived of getting jobs based on merit due to the anomalies in recruitment. Only those who had money and connections with the BNP-Jamaat coalition government occupied most of the positions in the government jobs. Bangladesh has come out of that darkness today.