Nearly 1,000 crore taka distributed as risk allowance at BSTI in a decade, ACC inquiry finds irregularities
All officers and employees of the Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution (BSTI), the body that controls product standards, are receiving risk allowance. Around 100 crore taka of the institution’s income is distributed among them every year under this head. At that rate, nearly 1,000 crore taka has gone into the pockets of its officers and employees as risk allowance over the past decade.
The findings have emerged from an inquiry by an institutional team formed by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC). The report also raises allegations of irregularities in project implementation at BSTI and harassment of service recipients. The report was recently sent by the ACC to the Cabinet Division along with recommendations.
According to sources, the ACC team inquired into the sources, causes and remedies of corruption at various levels of BSTI in the first week of this November and made 17 recommendations to the commission. The commission decided to inform the matter through the Cabinet Division so that the relevant ministry could be given the necessary instructions to implement the recommendations. The recommendations were later sent to the Cabinet Division under the signature of ACC Secretary Saidur Rahman Khan.
A senior official of the Cabinet Division shared the information. ACC Deputy Director Md Akhtarul Islam confirmed the action taken on the complaints against BSTI and the sending of the recommendations to the Cabinet Division. He declined to say anything more on the matter.
Sources said the ACC inquiry report states that although there is a provision for depositing a portion of BSTI’s income in the government treasury, it is not deposited. Instead of depositing the institution’s income and surplus in the government treasury, it is being spent on risk allowance and other benefits for officers and employees. The report also raises multiple allegations of financial irregularities, irregularities in project implementation and harassment of service recipients.
Under the BSTI Act, 2018, the institution is bound to follow the prescribed legal provisions in managing its income and surplus. According to the allegations in the report, BSTI treats its income as private money and distributes a portion of it among officers and employees. But under the Finance Division’s instructions, there is no scope to treat any BSTI income as private income.
Audit objections have already been raised several times over the distribution of money in the name of risk allowance at BSTI. The audit objections state that the BSTI Council has no authority to decide to distribute 40 percent of the institution’s income. Since issuing product standard certificates and licences is part of officials’ official duties, the income earned from it should be treated as the institution’s government income. Even so, without framing the necessary rules, the distribution of money has continued, citing a long-standing practice.
BSTI has a total workforce of 608. The report says all of them are receiving risk allowance. The amount equals 25 to 27 months’ basic salary per year. On average, it amounts to about 60,000 taka per person per month. That comes to around 100 crore taka a year. At that rate, about 1,000 crore taka has been paid as risk allowance over the past decade.
Of BSTI’s 608 posts, six are in grade-4, 51 in grade-6, 375 in grade-9 and above, nine in grades-10 and 11, 107 in grades-12 to 16, and 59 in grades-17 to 20. All of them are receiving the risk allowance benefit.
On 5 June 2022, the monitoring cell of the Finance Division of the Ministry of Finance directed that the additional risk allowance equal to 25 to 27 months’ basic salary, beyond salary, paid to BSTI officers and employees be stopped. Against this directive, BSTI Assistant Director (Administration) Md Tuhin Ahmed filed a writ petition in the High Court in 2022. After the directive’s effectiveness was stayed following the writ, the employees continued to draw the risk allowance, the ACC report notes.
Section 41 of the BSTI Act, 2018 speaks of forming the institution’s fund, its sources of money, depositing money in scheduled banks and managing the fund under the rules. But even long after the law was made, the necessary rules have not been framed.
The ACC inquiry report says that, taking advantage of the absence of rules, money is being spent on various heads including risk allowance, pension allowance and welfare allowance. Yet audit objections exist over the rationality and legal basis of these expenses. Questions have also been raised about spending the institution’s money on welfare even though there is a separate benevolent fund.
The report says there is an allegation of irregularities of 1,51,75,586 taka in the upward extension work of the fourth floor of the administration building at the institution’s head office. Audit objections also mention payment of a bill of 5,53,728 taka for installing a false ceiling on the same floor without doing the work, and payment of 19,11,197 taka for work outside the design and work order.
In addition, there are allegations of irregularities in purchases worth 2,20,07,200 taka under the project for the “expansion and strengthening of BSTI in five districts”, and of failing to collect 2,69,161 taka in liquidated damages (LD) from the contractor. The report also mentions an allegation of irregular receipt of money in the name of the Director General’s (DG) retirement benefit.
The ACC inquiry also found allegations of marketing substandard and adulterated products using fake BSTI seals. The report says that in the 2020-21 fiscal year, the institution tested 17,897 food products among a total of 27,057 samples, yet many products outside the scope of the mandatory licence remain outside proper supervision. To address the situation, the ACC has recommended expanding the scope of licences, strengthening intelligence surveillance, special drives, factory inspections and collecting samples from the market.
The report further says that a lack of coordination among BSTI, the Directorate of National Consumer Rights Protection, the Bangladesh Food Safety Authority and the Directorate General of Drug Administration, and duplication of the same work, are wasting money and manpower. The recommendations propose specifying the responsibilities of these bodies, conducting work in a coordinated manner and setting up a modern central laboratory. They also recommend assigning officers on rotation, strengthening counter-intelligence and internal surveillance to stop harassment of entrepreneurs seeking licence and sample approvals.
Commenting on the matter, Dr Iftekharuzzaman, executive director of Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB), said that if the allegations are true — that BSTI officers and employees have been irregularly drawing bonuses equal to 25 to 27 months’ basic salary a year, alongside institutional corruption averaging a hundred crore taka a year — then it must be said that, as a standards institute, they are engaged in setting a standard for a festival of misappropriating public money through abuse of power and corruption. Those involved in these irregularities must be made to return the money they drew irregularly and be held exemplarily accountable, he said.
Asked about the allegations against BSTI, Industries Secretary Abdun Naser Khan said, “I do not know about the matter yet. Once I know, I will be able to tell you.”
On the allegation that BSTI officers and employees receive risk allowance equal to 25 to 27 months’ basic salary a year beyond their salary, BSTI Director General Kazi Imdadul Haque said it is not a new truth. It has a historical context. The way it is being described is not exactly right, but the matter is not new either.
The ACC has also recommended restructuring the workforce — since 476 of BSTI’s 842 approved posts are in grade-9 and above — increasing supervision at the field level and upgrading laboratories to international standards. It has also recommended ensuring transparency in financial management, settling audit objections and ensuring administrative accountability. The report says effective steps by the relevant ministry to implement these recommendations will play an important role in reforming BSTI and protecting consumer rights and public health.
