ACC launches inquiry into recruitment, tender irregularities at Rampal power plant

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has decided to launch an inquiry into allegations of irregularities in the recruitment and tender process for outsourcing employees at the Rampal thermal power plant in Bagerhat.

The anti-graft body will also investigate the alleged embezzlement of funds through the illegal sale of the plant's assets, ACC Deputy Director Akhtarul Islam confirmed the development to The Business Standard today (15 September).

ACC sources said the commission will first scrutinise the entire contract signed during the construction phase in order to verify the allegations.

According to the ACC, lawyer Salekuzzaman Sagar filed a writ petition with the High Court in June, alleging discrimination in pay and irregularities at the Rampal power plant. The petition stated that while a Bangladeshi engineer is paid Tk1 lakh, an Indian engineer in the same position receives Tk2.5 lakh. 

It also alleged a dominance of Indian nationals in senior positions and the provision of extra benefits to people of a particular religion. 

Following the hearing, the court issued a rule against the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources and other relevant parties. 

Later, the ACC's Bagerhat office carried out a raid, which initially confirmed some of the allegations, said the agency officials. 

Investigators found that although Bangladesh-India Friendship Power Company Limited has its own policies, Indian officials were being granted additional facilities under the policies of India's National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC). 

They also noted that the company was ignoring its own rule of maintaining a ratio of 20 local officials for every foreign official, using the alleged inefficiency of Bangladeshi staff as justification.