Officials flout rules by using project vehicles

Four years ago, Monirul Islam, a joint secretary of the Local Government Division, bought a car with an interest-free government loan. He also receives a government allowance of Tk 50,000 a month for maintaining the vehicle.

Instead of using the car purchased with the interest-free government loan and maintained with the government allowance, Monirul uses a sport utility vehicle (SUV, commonly known as a jeep) belonging to the Local Government Engineering Department (LGED). The vehicle has a government-appointed driver, while the government also covers its fuel and maintenance costs.

The SUV used by Monirul Islam belongs to a World Bank-funded project called the Programme for Supporting Rural Bridges. LGED buys vehicles under various such projects and provides them for use by officials of different government ministries and agencies.

Among those using these vehicles are officials of the Prime Minister’s Office, the Local Government Division, the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives, and the Planning Commission.

The Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Division and Bogura City Corporation have also taken vehicles from LGED. Even the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) uses an LGED vehicle.

When asked about the matter, officials involved in such irregularities said they were not doing it alone.

The rules, however, state that project vehicles must be used only for project-related work and returned to the transport pool after completion of the project.

People working on corruption prevention say LGED is an agency under the Ministry of Local Government. LGED’s projects have to be approved by the Planning Commission, while the ACC works to combat corruption. When officials of these agencies use LGED vehicles, it can create a tendency for the agencies to provide mutual benefits and protection.

Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) Executive Director Iftekharuzzaman told Prothom Alo that this was a collusive irregularity. LGED, as a government agency, has become involved in irregularities, while those using the vehicles are also failing to follow the rules.

He said LGED controls substantial resources and faces a large number of allegations of corruption. “It would not be unreasonable to think that officials of such an agency are allowing officials of other agencies to use their vehicles in order to protect themselves,” he said.

LGED works on rural infrastructure development, including roads, bridges, culverts and marketplaces. According to information available on the Planning Commission’s website, LGED has 119 projects in the 2026–27 fiscal year.

In Bangladesh, projects often purchase more vehicles than they actually need. LGED has also bought hundreds of vehicles under various projects.

It was not possible to determine exactly how many project vehicles LGED currently has, as officials have refused to provide the information.

However, a list of 261 vehicles has been obtained. The list identifies who uses the vehicles.

An analysis of the list shows that of the 261 vehicles, 211 are SUVs, 41 are double-cabin pickups and nine are cars.

The list obtained by Prothom Alo shows that LGED officials use 211 of the 261 vehicles. Many of them are not entitled to use such vehicles.

LGED has given 59 vehicles to various ministries and government agencies.

The highest number, 26, are with the Local Government Division. Another eight are with the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives. Combined, the ministry and the Local Government Division have 34 vehicles.

The Planning Commission has 10 vehicles, the International Crimes Tribunal six, the Prime Minister’s Office three, the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education three, Bogura City Corporation two and the ACC one.

One vehicle assigned to the Prime Minister’s Office is listed as being kept on standby at the transport pool.

The list for the Ministry of Local Government shows vehicles allocated for the minister and state minister, their offices and security purposes. The six vehicles at the International Crimes Tribunal are listed as being used by prosecutors.

Aminul Islam, chief prosecutor of the tribunal, told Prothom Alo that the prosecutors were working with risks to their lives. They needed vehicles for security reasons, which was why the vehicles had been obtained from a government agency.

Meanwhile, the list of project vehicle users at the Local Government Division includes officials ranging from secretaries, additional secretaries and joint secretaries to deputy secretaries and senior assistant secretaries.

In the case of the Planning Commission, information was also found showing that LGED vehicles are being used by members, heads of divisions, joint secretaries and deputy secretaries.

Asked how LGED vehicles had been provided to various ministries, offices and agencies, how much was being spent annually on drivers, fuel and maintenance, and whether there was any initiative to take the vehicles back, LGED Chief Engineer Belal Hossain told Prothom Alo that he could not say whether vehicles had been given to the Planning Commission and the ACC.

He said, however, that officials involved in LGED-related work at the ministry use LGED vehicles.

Asked whether people outside a project could use project vehicles, Belal Hossain did not give a direct answer. He said LGED vehicles were provided wherever and whenever they were needed for work.

Irregularities involving vehicles are not new.

Former Local Government Secretary Helal Uddin Ahmed had faced allegations of using three vehicles. At the time, he told news outlet bdnews24.com that he used one vehicle, his family used another and one was kept as a backup. He said his predecessor had also used three vehicles.

Helal Uddin is now in jail.

Analysts say that an irregular practice does not become legal simply because it has continued for a long time.

Prothom Alo’s investigation found the names of 35 officials who bought cars with interest-free government loans and receive a monthly allowance of Tk 50,000, but also use vehicles belonging to the Local Government Engineering Department (LGED).

Ahead of the 2018 11th parliamentary election, popularly known as the “night-time vote”, the government began providing interest-free loans to secretaries, additional secretaries, joint secretaries and deputy secretaries to purchase cars.

At the time, the government said it was unable to provide vehicles from the transport pool to officials entitled to government vehicles. As an alternative, the interest-free loan and monthly allowance scheme was introduced.

A policy issued at the time stipulated that officials would receive interest-free loans of Tk 3 million, with only a 1 per cnet service charge. According to borrowers and officials concerned, if an official takes a Tk 3 million loan and receives a 10 per cent depreciation benefit under the reducing-balance method over eight years, the amount ultimately repayable comes to around Tk 1.3 million. The monthly instalment is around Tk 11,000.

The government, meanwhile, provides Tk 50,000 a month for vehicle maintenance. Users say that when an official drives in Dhaka, the loan instalment, driver’s salary and fuel costs can all be covered by the maintenance allowance provided by the government.

On 9 July, the Ministry of Finance wrote to the Ministry of Public Administration asking it to take steps to reduce officials’ monthly vehicle maintenance allowance from Tk 50,000 to Tk 25,000. However, the initiative was withdrawn on 16 July following objections from officials.

According to data available to Prothom Alo up to 22 February, a total of 2,357 officials had taken interest-free car loans. On 2 April, the BNP government suspended the provision of car loans.

LGED sources said the agency had offered a vehicle to Abdul Moin Khan after he took charge as the new minister for local government. However, Moin Khan did not take the vehicle. He uses a vehicle from the government transport pool.

State Minister for Local Government Mir Shahe Alam also did not take an LGED project vehicle.

However, the state minister’s private secretary (PS), Md Tasnimuzzaman, and assistant private secretary (APS), Towhidul Islam, have taken LGED vehicles.

Officials of the Local Government Division who use LGED vehicles include Secretary Shahidul Hasan; the secretary’s private secretary, Jisan bin Majed; Additional Secretary Abu Nasr Mohammad Abdullah; Joint Secretaries Parimal Sarker, Khalilur Rahman, Abu Rafa Mohammad Arif and Kazi Anwar Imam; Deputy Secretaries Sultana Akter, Ashfiqun Nahar, Towqir Hossain, Helena Parvin, Rabiul Islam (who was later promoted to joint secretary), Ariful Islam and Ziaur Rahman; and Senior Assistant Secretary Jesmin Pradhan.

LGED sources said all 59 vehicles were project vehicles. There is no provision for ministry officials to use vehicles belonging to LGED projects.

Asked why he needed to use another vehicle after taking an interest-free loan to purchase his own car, Local Government Division Joint Secretary Monirul Islam told Prothom Alo that officials from other parts of the ministry also use such vehicles, not just those in the Local Government Division.

He said the vehicle assigned to him was not fixed for his exclusive use and that he used it occasionally. He also said he sometimes used the car he had bought with the interest-free loan, while family members also used it.

Local Government Division Joint Secretary Abul Khair Mohammad Hafizullah Khan also uses an LGED vehicle. He too bought a car with an interest-free government loan and receives the monthly maintenance allowance. He declined to comment when asked about his use of two vehicles at the same time.

The government’s Planning Commission reviews projects proposed by different ministries and processes them for approval. The commission can hold up projects. There have also been allegations of bribes being taken to get projects approved.

LGED has provided 10 vehicles to officials of the Planning Commission. Nine of the vehicles are used by nine officials. One is kept on standby, meaning it is used by whoever needs it.

Planning Commission officials using LGED vehicles include commission members Neyamat Ullah Bhuiyan and Mahmudul Hossain Khan; divisional heads Kabir Ahmad, Babul Mia and Md Ashrafuzzaman; Joint Secretary Mosammat Anar Kali; and Deputy Chief Shah Md Helal Uddin.

Planning Commission Divisional Head Kabir Ahmad uses a vehicle bearing registration number Dhaka Metro-Gha 18-3571.

Asked on 6 September whether it was justified to use a vehicle belonging to another agency for commuting to and from the office or for personal purposes, he told Prothom Alo, “We inspect projects. We take the vehicle for project-related work and use it for project work.”

Asked whether using a vehicle belonging to an agency whose projects the Planning Commission reviews and oversees constituted a conflict of interest, Kabir Ahmad said, “We use the vehicle only to go to projects.”

After speaking to the official, a visit to the Planning Commission parking area found the vehicle bearing registration number Dhaka Metro-Gha 18-3571 parked inside the commission premises. Further inquiries found that Kabir Ahmad regularly uses the vehicle to commute to and from the office.

Mohammad Babul Mia, head of the Agriculture, Water Resources and Rural Institutions Division of the Planning Commission, also uses an LGED vehicle. His office is in Building 17 of the commission.

Before meeting him, an LGED vehicle bearing registration number Dhaka Metro-Gha 18-2801 was seen parked in front of the building.

Asked about it, Babul Mia told Prothom Alo, “It is used for official work. It is not used outside official work.”

Asked whether a project vehicle could be used in this way, he said, “I am not the only one using it.”

When it was pointed out that questions arise when officials responsible for reviewing projects use vehicles belonging to the agencies or projects concerned, Babul Mia said, “You could have said that if I had introduced this system. I did not introduce it.”

Asked whether it was appropriate to use another agency’s vehicle after purchasing a personal car with an interest-free government loan, Babul Mia said you cannot tell such things to Army. There are bigger wrongdoings than this. Write about those.

LGED also carries out infrastructure construction under projects of the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education. The ministry had three vehicles, which were recently returned.

The Ministry of Public Administration has issued several letters, including during the Awami League government, warning officials against using project vehicles and asking them to return the vehicles. The interim government also issued a letter on the matter.

In September 2024, the Office of the Chief Adviser of the then interim government sent a letter to the relevant government offices. It said officials entitled to priority government vehicles had taken car loans under the Interest-Free Loan and Car Service Monetisation Policy 2020 and were receiving the full Tk 50,000 monthly vehicle maintenance allowance.

At the same time, they were using vehicles of various government agencies in violation of the rules. This was causing disorder in public administration and financial waste, the letter said.

The interim government, however, took no further action on the matter. Rather, several advisers were themselves accused of using multiple vehicles.

The rule states that operational vehicles must be handed over to the central transport pool of the Directorate of Government Transport within 60 days of completion of a project.

It was not possible to obtain information on how many vehicles from various LGED projects completed over the past five years had been handed over to the transport pool. However, records show that only 18 vehicles have been returned by various agencies under the Ministry of Local Government over the past four years.

Asked about the continued use of project vehicles without returning them, former secretary and former rector of the Bangladesh Public Administration Training Centre (BPATC) AKM Abdul Awal Majumdar told Prothom Alo that the irregularity could be stopped only if a political government took a firm position on the matter.