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No trace of Tk 160 crore has been found for a project with an estimated cost of Tk 541 crore. Although the cost of the project is estimated at Tk 360.65 crore, the equipment purchased with that money has not been used. The money destined for the non-existent center has been embezzled. This information has appeared in the investigation report of the Ministry of Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology.
Project Director and now Postal Director General (DG) Sudhanshu Shekhar Bhadra (SS Bhadra) has been blamed for the large-scale irregularities and looting in the project called Post E-Center for Rural Community.
According to the investigation report, the project purchased 16,000 point of sale (POS) machines to serve customers with postcards. Of those machines, only 604 are used. In other words, 95.7% of the POS machines are not used. And out of 10,000 finger vein machines, only 643 machines are used. As such, 93.58 percent of the machines for the veins of the fingers are not used. In addition, the report also mentioned that the POOS machine worth Tk 54.93 crore and the finger van machine worth Tk 19.62 crore are not working due to no instructions issued from the project authorities.
On January 24, 2012, the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) approved the Post e-Center for Rural Community project to provide digital services to people in remote areas.
The project aims to provide basic computer training, create self-employment opportunities through business process outsourcing, provide banking services to the underprivileged, provide e-commerce services, provide subsidies to underserved people, sell insurance policies, and collect and distribute premiums. Provide other electronic services, including extension, telemedicine services, agricultural information services, pest management, etc.
The Postal Department of the Ministry of Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology has implemented the project for approximately five years, from 2012 to 2016. Initially, the project manager was the deputy director of the postal department. Alauddin. Although he held this position for the first two years, Sudhanshu Shekhar Bhadra was the project manager for the next three years. Although he is now the general manager of the postal department, he was the project manager when he was deputy general manager. The investigation report indicates that the main work of the project was completed during its time.
In the project report, it has been mentioned in the collection plan that within the framework of the project for eight thousand five hundred post offices in the country, 16 thousand POS machines at a cost of Tk 54.93 crore, 10,000 machines from finger to a cost of Tk 19.62 crore, 8,100 photo printers at a cost of Tk 14.34 crore, two 326 computers and accessories at a cost of Tk 3 crore, 7,250 laser printers at a cost of Tk 11 crore 56 lakh, 21,045 dual laptops at a cost of Tk 102.34 crore, 7,510 furniture sets at a cost of Tk 16 crore 11 lakh, 1,500 solar panels at a cost of Tk 48.23 crore. The system was purchased, 10 double cab vans with a jeep for Tk 5.36 crore, 500 servers with UPS for Tk 15.11 crore, 500 chip base cards for Tk 4.48 crore and 8,260 dual wave cameras for Tk 2.73 crore.
According to the research report, the approved project was estimated to cost Tk 540.94 crore, but the actual expenditure was Tk 360.65 crore. Although it is claimed that Rs 160 million Tk has been saved in this case, there is no comment on the savings given in the report at the end of the project. It also did not say whether the money was returned to the state treasury through treasury bills. While the project was completed in 2016, the supply shipment from Telephone Industry Corporation (Thesis) and ITCL mentions 2015 to 2019. That is, some equipment has been provided two years after project completion.
The investigation report further said that of 16,000 pause machines, 14,129 machines have been provided in the field. The remaining 2,081 machines are in the office of the Director General of the Post Office. The machines shipped to the field are unused and undistributed. During the investigation, 750 POS machines and 600 digital van machines were found in parcel status at Khulna Postal Department Divisional Office. The investigation committee also demanded a review of the rationality of the 409 POOS machines provided by the Postal Department in the Income Support Program for the Poorest (ISPP) of the Local Government.
According to the sources concerned, there have been reports of irregularities in all aspects of the project, from purchases to the establishment of email centers. In particular, many electronic centers are on paper, but in reality they do not exist and the money allocated on behalf of those centers has been withdrawn.
According to the complaint, the list of 8,500 post offices was filled by writing the name of the same post office more than once. The project manager, Sudhanshu Shekhar Bhadra, has squandered the project money by showing the cost anonymously. Co-secretary of the Department of Posts and Telecommunications to investigate complaints. Musleh Uddin was a member of the committee convened by the undersecretary of the same department (Administration-2). Aminul Haque and Undersecretary (post 1) Sajjad Hossain. The committee has investigated and found evidence of significant corruption. Subsequently, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) launched an investigation into the matter. The ACC has already questioned the CEO.
This irregularity and corruption of the Postal Department has been debated indefinitely at the meeting of the Permanent Parliamentary Commission of the Ministry of Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology. Committee members who participated in the discussion at the meeting held in Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban on Wednesday expressed outrage. They recommended the removal of Sudhanshu Shekhar Bhadra, Director General of the Postal Department. Although the discussion took place in the presence of Director General Sudhanshu Shekhar Bhadra, he said nothing.
Committee member Benazir Ahmed chaired the parliamentary committee meeting in the absence of the president. He told Kaler Kantha: “The committee recommended the removal of the general director of the postal department as there are many allegations of corruption against him. Because even after the corruption was proven, questions have arisen among people as he is still in office. Even after Corona was attacked, he (the Director General) appeared before the Prime Minister in Ganobhaban, raising suspicions in the minds of the people.
In this regard, the Minister of Posts and Telecommunications, Mustafa Jabbar, told Kaler Kantha on Thursday: “We are investigating the embezzlement of a huge amount of money against Sudhanshu Shekhar Bhadra, Director General of the Postal Department on behalf of the provision of digital services. “. The preliminary investigation report of the ministry’s investigation committee did not contain complete information. For this reason, you have been asked to submit a report with all the information. If there is evidence of corruption, action must be taken. He further said: “I learned that the parliamentary committee recommended the removal of Sudhanshu Shekhar Bhadra. The ministry respects the recommendation of the committee. However, the implementation of this recommendation must be legal. A presidential order will be required to remove someone from the post of general director of the postal department. In addition, the working document of the decision of the parliamentary committee has not yet reached us.
Regarding the establishment of Post E-Center, the Minister said: ‘This project ran from 2013 to 2017. The project manager was Sudhanshu Shekhar Bhadra. The project worth Tk 541 crore showed savings of Tk 160 crore. That is why all the money for the project has been wasted, this information is not correct.
Regarding Corona’s appearance in front of the Prime Minister in Ganobhaban of Sudhanshu Shekhar, despite being positive, the minister said: “I have doubts about his positive report. He was examined four times and received a negative report three times. After that incident, he was asked to take over as the Prime Minister’s Office.
Several attempts were made to contact Sudhanshu Shekhar Bhadra about allegations of corruption. But her mobile phone was found turned off. Yesterday she was absent from the office.
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