The government plans to strip state-owned banks of the power to recruit and hire new employees and instead return the authority to the central bank.

The government plans to strip state-owned banks of the power to recruit and hire new employees and instead return the authority to the central bank. The move to re-engage the BB after more than five years into abolishing the banker’s recruitment committee, headed by the BB governor, follows after the Bangladesh Bank found gross irregularities in recruitment of new bankers in the state-controlled banks in the last five years, a senior finance ministry official said. Through empowering the BB to oversee a proposed ‘recruitment authority’ to be headed by the central bank governor, the existing separate appointment committees and interview boards of the banks concerned will be abolished, he added. Sonali, Janata, Agrani and Rupali hired around 30,000 new officials – both first class and second class – and another about 15,000 were recruited in six other specialised banks since early 2010. ‘We will soon ask the banks to abolish all their appointment committees and interview boards,’ the senior finance official told New Age on Saturday. ‘Finance minister (AM A Muhith) will have intensive discussions soon with the chairmen and managing directors of the banks to bring about the changes in the appointment system’. BB in a recent position paper to the finance ministry recommended scrapping the existing hiring authorities of public sector banks as it found that undue pressures forced the banks’ authorities to compromise with the quality of fresh recruits. ‘The possibility of appointing qualified and fit candidates in public sector banks are getting slimmer day by day amid undesirable pressures piled on the banks’ authorities,’ reads the paper, signed by BB governor Atiur Rahman. ‘As comprises take place, lack of meritocracy keeps on hampering financial management and overall governance in the public sector banks,’ the governor added. He suggested formation of a ‘recruitment authority’ to be overseen by the BB to recruit new entrants in the banks. Since 2010, the banks’ management bodies have been recruiting employees at all levels according to recruitment rules laid down by their own boards. Former BB governor Salehuddin Ahmed said the realisation by the BB and the finance ministry on scrapping the current recruitment system in the public sector banks is praiseworthy. He said revival of bankers’ recruitment committee, headed by BB Governor, would be a burden for the BB. ‘If BB oversees the entire recruitment policy and system and engages institutions like Bangladesh institute of bank management to do the recruitment, it will make a huge difference, as the current recruitment system is plagued by corruption, nepotism and political bias,’ Salehuddin said. He, however, expressed doubt over the capacity of the finance ministry to bring real changes in the recruitment system, saying, ‘the finance ministry might not be able overcome political pressure.’ Officials concerned in the finance ministry said the new directives to scrap the existing recruitment system and introduce a BB-led recruitment committee are expected to come into affect at the soonest possible time.