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The Bangladesh Bank has instructed the poorly-performing Rajshahi Krishi Unnayan Bank to take corrective measures over violation of rules relating to transfer and promotion of the specialised bank’s employees.
A special inspection conducted by the central bank found that a number of the bank’s employees had been working at its head office and Dhaka office for over three years while some had been working in the two offices for around 12 years in violation of the BB’s regulations.
The central bank in its letter to RAKUB attached a list of 36 officers who had been working at the same workstation for up to 12 years.
Rajshahi Krishi Unnayan Bank, which has been grappling with non-performing loans above 25 per cent of its outstanding loans, promoted its officers in violation of rules and created indiscipline in the bank’s management.
A number of officials said that the prolonged tenure of some of its officials at the head office and Dhaka office had been allowing these employees to provide undue favour to a group of borrowers.
The central bank on February 1, 2021 issued a directive to RAKUB managing director asking him to take measures in this regard soon to ratify the irregularities regarding promotion and occupation of the same workstation by a group of employees for over three years.
As per Schedule 9 of RAKUB Service Rules, 2006, serving for at least five years as the bank’s officer, including a minimum three years’ service as senior officer, is a must to be promoted to the principal officer post.
In 2015, the bank promoted 109 senior officers to the post of principal officer who were earlier promoted to the post of senior officer from the post of officer in 2011. These officials joined RAKUB in 1998.
In 2015, the bank awarded the promotions based on the fact that their service age had surpassed five years, including over three years of service as senior officer.
Senior officers, who were promoted to the position of principal officer in 2015 and had been serving as officer before promotion to the post of senior officer in 2011, belonged to positions between 245 and 292 in the official hierarchy in 2014.
On the other hand, around 40 senior officers, who joined RAKUB as senior officers in 2010, were denied promotion in 2015.
Although these senior officers had served the bank for more than three years, they were denied promotion on grounds that their service tenure had not surpassed five years.
Later in 2016, the bank considered them for promotion after their service tenure at RAKUB exceeded five years.
In the official hierarchy of RAKUB, the position of officers who joined RAKUB as senior officer in 2010 was between 24 and 84.
The central bank in its observation said that RAKUB had promoted its senior officers to the post of principal officer in 2011 in less than five years of their joining at RAKUB in 2007 in violation of its service rules.
After awarding of two promotions in a span of four years, senior RAKUB officers, who had been in the upper tiers of the official hierarchy, saw their ranks downgraded in the official hierarchy following which their juniors became seniors to them.
The officers said that if the hierarchy remained unchanged, their junior officers would get priority in getting promotions in future.
RAKUB managing director (additional charge) Md Idris could not be reached over phone for comment despite repeated attempts.
