The Vice-Chancellor (VC) of the Khulna Agricultural University, Shahidur Rahman Khan, has been accused of recruiting members of his family to the university. He appointed his son as section officer on an ad hoc basis. He also appointed his daughter as a teacher of the university. Even his wife has applied for the post of professor of this university. The ministry of education has suspended the recruitment process.
There have also been allegations of irregularities in the recruitment process of others in this newly established university. Five members of the university's policy making forum, the syndicate, have written to the education ministry to investigate these allegations.
In response to the letter, a three-member committee of the University Grant Commission (UGC) has started investigations, following instructions from the education ministry. Biswajit Chanda, the convener of the committee, said they are collecting the necessary information and will try to submit the report revealing the facts.
Irregularities from the very beginning
In 2015, the Khulna Agricultural University Act was passed in the Jatiya Sangsad (national assembly). The activities of the university then started with the recruitment of Shahidur Rahman Khan as the Vice-Chancellor in September 2018.
According to the registrar office, at this moment, there are 221 students in the university. Till now, a total of 172 persons have been recruited, including 75 teachers, 23 officials and 74 employees. However, the total number of approved posts is 433. The recruitment process for the vacant posts is continuing step by step.
The five syndicate members sent the letter to the ministry of education on 24 November. The complainants are, executive chairman of the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council, the VC of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University of Gazipur, the director general of the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute and the director general of the Bangladesh Sugarcane Research Institute. The total number of syndicate members in the university is 25.
In the letter, the five syndicate members mentioned that there have been allegations of a lack of transparency and nepotism in the recruitment process of the university from the very beginning. Md. Giashuddin Miah, the VC of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University, refrained from commenting in this regard while the investigation was going on.
Recruitment of VC’s offspring
According to the written complaints filed by the five syndicate members, there was a lack of transparency in the appointment of a number of officials and employees and the rules of the recruitment process were overlooked. The persons appointed in this manner include Md. Shafiur Rahman, the son of the VC. Recently, the VC’s daughter Ishrat Khan was also recruited to the Computer Science and Engineering (CSE) department of the university in this manner.
A source from the syndicate said that the VC himself is the head of the CSE department and is the dean of the concerned faculty. One of the two teachers who were the invited members of the selection committee, is close to the VC. The other one was the supervisor of VC’s daughter during her Master's.
Several syndicate members alleged that these two persons were chosen to ensure the recruitment of Ishrat Khan. They also expressed their displeasure about the participation of these two instead of the elected members.
The letter sent to the education ministry said the list of candidates selected as teachers were supposed to be presented at the syndicate meeting, but this was not done. The members expressed their displeasure in this regard at the second syndicate meeting on 15 March last year. This list was not presented in the third syndicate meeting either. Even the proceedings of the previous meeting were not presented at the third syndicate meeting on 20 November.
The letter further stated that a member at the third syndicate meeting raised questions about the participation of those two persons as invited members without being members of the selection board and also questioned their conducting the oral exam during the recruitment of the teachers in the CSE department. Then a decision was made to form a committee to look into whether the recruitment process was appropriate or not. But recently the vice-chancellor’s daughter was appointed as a teacher in the university.
VC’s wife wants to be a professor
Ferdousi Begum, wife of the VC, works at the Department of Livestock Services (DLS). She is the livestock officer of an upazila. It is revealed that she became a candidate for the post of a professor of Microbiology and Public Health department of the university. However, the ministry of education has suspended various recruitment processes including of this department on 9 December until further instructions.
In this regard, Vice Chancellor Shahidur Rahman Khan told Prothom Alo over mobile phone last Saturday that there is no rule that the family members of the VC cannot apply for a job in the concerned university or that they cannot be appointed.
Regarding his wife’s application, the VC said that his wife has completed her PhD from Japan. If she qualifies, she will get appointed too.
When asked about the allegations made by the five syndicate members, Shahidur Rahman Khan said if they had any objection, they could have raised that issue in the syndicate meeting. Instead of doing that, they informed the ministry of education.
However, the concerned people are saying that if the family members of the VC are eligible for the post, no one will raise questions about their recruitment. But the recruitment process should be transparent. The five syndicate members have mentioned in the letter that they are embarrassed by the irregularities in the recruitment process of the university. To ensure transparency, the whole recruitment process needs to be verified by an appropriate committee.
Abdul Mannan, the former chairman of UGC, told Prothom Alo that it is painful as a teacher to hear about such unethical allegations against a VC and a teacher. Khulna Agricultural University is a new one. From the very beginning, meritorious people should be recruited there.
Unfortunately, there are allegations of irregularities in the recruitment process in several universities, not only this. All these allegations should be investigated and legal steps should be taken against the guilty persons. Education is not a business.