& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

Pre-elections Irregularities 2001

CAG finds irregularities in experts' recruitment

ShakhawatLiton
The office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has detected irregularities in the recruitment of five experts by the Election Commission (EC) ahead of the last parliamentary elections as well as in an expenditure of over Tk 74 crore for electoral reforms.
Examining the EC’s documents on the recruitment, the CAG office found the irregularities and termed theTk3.37 crore paid in salaries and allowances to the experts a financial loss, putting the blame on Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) MA Syed.
The CAG office also questioned an expenditure of over Ik 74 crore from the electoral process improvement project funded jointly by the UNDP and the government which
was spent from 1997. Of the amount, Tk 3.37 crore was paid to the experts as their salaries before and after the general elections 2001.
The Daily Star tried to communicate with the CEC seeking his comments about the allegations. After failing to contact him by several attempts over telephone and by visiting his office, a copy of this story was faxed to his office seeking his comment in last February.
But, even after 48 hours, we did not receive any response from his side.
The CAG office, a constitutional body to examine government expenditures, in its report said the CEC did not gave due consideration to other election commissioners’ opinions in making the appointments. The CAG office rejected the EC's version and explanations on the recruitment, and affirmed that the objectivity of its findings has been proven beyond doubt, adding a detail investigation should be conducted into the irregularities.
The audit report has yet not been submitted to parliament. However, a source in the CAG office said they would place the report to the president to be tabled at parliament on time.
The CAG office in its report said, in a clear violation of the government rules and regulations for development projects, the CEC had appointed five consultants -- an international and two local Information Technology (IT) experts, a legal expert and a project implementation specialist -- disregarding opposition from the other Election Commissioners.
The opposition came as, corruption cases had been pending against both the local IT experts with the now defunct Bureau of Anti Corruption when they were appointed at the EC ahead of the national elections.
"The project authorities could get chance to play an effective role in implementation the project due to the intervention by the chief election commissioner," said the CAG office. INT'L IT EXPERT
The CEC appointed Lionel Wollner as an international IT consultant to the EC on June 20, 2000 and Wollner continued the job until September 9, 2002. The EC paid him about Tk 2.48 crore for his services.
The CAG office said the three other election commissioners at an EC meeting on October 26, 2000 recommended cancelling the appointment, but the CEC did not agree with them.
Wollner who flew in Dhaka following an email sent by the CEC himself fixed his terms of reference (TOR) and work plan, which the CAG office found unacceptable from the point of view of accountability and transparency.
However, according to the TOR of his job, Wollner was supposed to develop some important software, the central database of EC and its administrative system. But he did not do any of that work: "He did not achieve any output al all," said the CAG office.
The CAG scrutiny also found false a claim that the database of 7.50 crore voters had been prepared with the sole initiatives of Wollner. "In fact, 77 vendors did the work of data entry on voters ahead of the national elections," the audit report said.
An IT expert team led by eminent expert Dr Zamilur Reza Chowdhury had earlier conducted a study and said there was no need to appoint any international IT expert for the work. But the CEC ignoring the recommendation appointed Wollner as IT expert.
"The allegations against the appointment of the international IT consultant has been proved, as the documents submitted by the EC could not substantiate it's claim against the allegation," said the audit report.
LOCAL IT EXPERTS
Ignoring existing rules of the project, qualifications for the appointment and severe opposition from the other three election commissioners, the CEC appointed Moinul Haque on September 7, 2000 as a system
analyst at the EC.
The project steering committee had not such decision to appoint local consultant. The national project director did not make any request to the CEC for the appointment, said the CAG office.
Moinul earlier worked at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) when MA Syed was its chairman. The CEC also did not take permission from the SEC or the finance ministry before appointing Moinul at his commission.
The lowest qualification for the post was a bachelor's degree on IT. But Moinul had no such qualification, said the CAG report.
Referring to the irregularities of ignoring the recruitment system , the other election commissioners opposed the appointment and asked to cancel it.
"The appointment was totally illegal and when he was appointed at the EC, a corruption case was going on against him," said the CAG report.
Though Moinul could not work efficiently and effectively, he was paid Tk 18.60 lakh, said the report.
The CEC ignoring the opposition of the other election commissioners also appointed another local IT consultant, Emdadul Haque, on June 4, 2001 and paid Tk 14.33 lakh for his six-month service.
When Emdadul was appointed in the EC, a criminal case was going on against him at the recently defunct Bureau of Anti Corruption, said the CAG report, but it did not specified the about the case.
After completion of his job, Emdadul submitted a report to the project authorities, which rejected it, as the report was not a standard one, said the CAG office.
LEGAL EXPERT
The CEC that time appointed Justice Abdul Quddus Chowdhury as a legal expert before the electoral law amendment ahead of the general elections 2001.
Though upon receiving a letter from the CEC in this regard the UNDP gave its consent to the appointment but the steering committee of the UNDP-funded project did not approve it.
No tender or circular was made to appoint the expert. Chowdhury also did not submit report to the project authorities as per the TOR of his job.
Justice Chowdhury, who was appointed for 11 months from February 1, 2001, was paid Tk 36.53 lakh for his unspecified consultancy, said the CAG office.
It may be mentioned that when the CEC was the SEC chair, Justice Chowdhury was a legal consultant to the SEC.
PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION SPECIALIST
The CEC also appointed Dr Zahurul Alam as a project implementation specialist on July 1 without making any circular in the newspapers for the appointment.
Zahurul worked at the EC for six months and was paid Tk 11.99 lakh. But he submitted an incomplete report on his assignment in accordance with the TOR of his job. The project authorities did not accept the incomplete report, said the CAG office.
The CAG probe did not find his activities as satisfactory, too.