All 608 employees of the Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution (BSTI) receive risk allowances amounting to 25 to 27 months’ basic salary annually, with nearly Tk 100 crore distributed each year and about Tk 1,000 crore paid over the past decade, according to an Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) inquiry report.
The ACC’s institutional team also found allegations of irregularities in BSTI project implementation, financial management and harassment of service seekers. The commission recently sent the report, containing 17 recommendations, to the Cabinet Division for necessary instructions to the relevant ministry, sources said.
The ACC team examined sources, causes and prevention measures for corruption at different levels of BSTI in the first week of November. The commission decided to inform the Cabinet Division so that it could issue necessary directions to the relevant ministry for implementation of the recommendations. ACC Secretary Saidur Rahman Khan subsequently sent the recommendations to the Cabinet Division.
A senior Cabinet Division official confirmed the information to Ajker Patrika.
ACC Deputy Director Md Aktarul Islam confirmed that action was being taken over the allegations against BSTI and that recommendations had been sent to the Cabinet Division. He declined to provide further details.
According to the ACC report, BSTI has not deposited a portion of its income into the state treasury despite provisions requiring it to do so. Instead, the agency’s income and surplus funds have allegedly been spent on risk allowances and other benefits for officers and employees.
The report also cited multiple allegations of financial irregularities, irregularities in implementing projects and harassment of service recipients.
Under the BSTI Act, 2018, the institution is required to follow prescribed legal provisions in managing its income and surplus funds. The report alleged that BSTI had treated part of its income as private funds and distributed it among officers and employees, although Finance Division instructions state that no BSTI income may be considered private income.
Audit objections have repeatedly been raised over BSTI’s distribution of funds under the name of risk allowances. The objections said the BSTI Council had no authority to decide on distributing 40% of the institution’s income.
Income generated from issuing product quality certificates and licences should be treated as government income because issuing such certificates and licences is part of officials’ regular duties, the audit objections said. However, the distribution of funds has continued for years without the required rules being formulated.
BSTI has a total workforce of 608, and all employees receive the risk allowance, the report said. The allowance is equivalent to 25 to 27 months’ basic salary annually, averaging around Tk 60,000 per person each month.
The annual payout totals around Tk 100 crore, meaning approximately Tk 1,000 crore has been paid as risk allowance over the past decade.
The Finance Division’s Monitoring Cell, under the Ministry of Finance, directed BSTI on June 5, 2022, to stop providing risk allowances equivalent to 25 to 27 months’ basic salary in addition to regular pay.
BSTI Assistant Director (Administration) Md Tuhin Ahmed filed a writ petition with the High Court in 2022 against that directive. The ACC report said employees continued receiving the risk allowance after the directive’s implementation was stayed following the writ petition.
Of BSTI’s 608 positions, 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 employees in those positions receive the risk allowance, the report said.
Section 41 of the BSTI Act, 2018 provides for forming the institution’s fund, identifying funding sources, depositing money in scheduled banks and operating the fund under rules. However, the required rules have not been formulated even after a long period since the law was enacted.
The ACC report said the absence of rules had enabled spending under various heads, including risk allowances, pension allowances and welfare allowances. Audit objections have questioned the legal basis and justification of such expenditure.
Questions have also been raised over spending institutional funds on welfare activities despite the existence of a separate benevolent fund.
The Government Commercial Audit Directorate has raised several objections over BSTI’s financial and administrative activities, including tender evaluations in violation of public procurement rules, awarding contracts to non-responsive contractors by treating them as responsive, and irregularities in project expenditure.
The report alleged irregularities involving Tk 1 crore 51 lakh 75 thousand 586 in upward extension work on the fourth floor of the administration building at BSTI headquarters.
Audit objections also cited payment of Tk 5 lakh 53 thousand 728 for false-ceiling installation despite no such installation, and payment of Tk 19 lakh 11 thousand 197 for work outside the design and work order.
The report further alleged irregularities in procurement worth Tk 2 crore 20 lakh 7 thousand 200 under the “Expansion and Strengthening of BSTI in Five Districts” project. It also alleged that Tk 2 lakh 69 thousand 161 in liquidated damages was not recovered from a contractor.
The report mentioned allegations that money was irregularly received in the name of retirement benefits for the director general.
Transparency International Bangladesh Executive Director Dr Iftekharuzzaman said that if allegations of institutional corruption averaging Tk 100 crore annually and irregular bonuses equal to 25 to 27 months’ basic salary were true, BSTI was setting “a standard for a festival of misappropriating public money through abuse of power and corruption”.
“Those involved in these irregularities must be subjected to exemplary accountability through due legal process, including compulsory recovery of money received irregularly,” he told Ajker Patrika.
The ACC inquiry also found allegations that substandard and adulterated products were being marketed using forged BSTI seals. BSTI tested a total of 27,057 samples, including 17,897 food-product samples, in the 2020-21 fiscal year, but many products outside mandatory licensing remained beyond proper monitoring, the report said.
The ACC recommended expanding the scope of licensing, strengthening intelligence surveillance, special drives, factory inspections and market sample collection.
The report said lack of coordination and duplication of work among BSTI, the Directorate of National Consumer Rights Protection, the Bangladesh Food Safety Authority and the Directorate General of Drug Administration were wasting money and manpower.
The recommendations proposed clearly defining the responsibilities of the agencies, conducting coordinated operations and establishing a modern central laboratory. The ACC also recommended assigning officials through a rotation system and strengthening counter-intelligence and internal monitoring to end harassment of entrepreneurs seeking licences and sample approvals.
Of BSTI’s 842 approved posts, 476 are in Grade 9 and above. The ACC recommended restructuring the manpower framework, increasing field-level monitoring and upgrading laboratories to international standards.
The report also recommended ensuring transparency in financial management, resolving audit objections and strengthening administrative accountability. Effective action by the relevant ministry to implement the recommendations would be important for reforming BSTI and protecting consumer rights and public health, it said.
Industries Secretary Abdun Naser Khan said he was not yet aware of the allegations against BSTI. “I do not know about the matter yet. I will be able to inform you after I know,” he told Ajker Patrika.
BSTI Director General Kazi Imdadul Haque said the allegation that employees received risk allowances equal to 25 to 27 months’ basic salary each year was not new. “There is a historical context to it. The matter is not exactly as it is being presented, and it is not new,” he told Ajker Patrika.
