Palli Bidyut Samity (PBIS) is a local cooperative organization responsible for distributing electricity in rural areas under the Bangladesh Rural Electrification Board. Although it is supposed to work with the slogan “Light in every house, progress in every country”, Thakurgaon Palli Bidyut Samity has been accused of various corruptions such as bribery at the customer level, collection of excessive and ‘ghost’ bills, irregularities in tenders, and long load shedding and contractor recruitment.

Due to these irregularities, customers have filed specific complaints with the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) Integrated Office against Palli Vidyut along with various district departments in the past.

Allegations of nepotism, secrecy and financial transactions in the process of registration and renewal of mini contractors in Thakurgaon Palli Bidyut Samity through syndicates have been discussed among local contractors for a long time. There have been allegations that qualified local contractors are being given work through syndicates, excluding qualified local contractors. On the one hand, this institution, which is engaged in the service of the rural people, is being questioned due to various corruptions, while on the other hand, the government’s “Light to Every Home” project is also losing momentum.

The Thakurgaon Rural Electricity Syndicate has been strengthening its position through political patronage, lobbying and working in the same workplace for years. The names of DGM Kargiri Lutful Hasan, Assistant General Manager Nahid Islam and former GM Asaduzzaman Khan are also appearing in the list of names of the syndicate.

It is known that the Thakurgaon Rural Power Association published a notification for the initial registration of mini contractors in the middle of last year for short-length, line construction, maintenance and upgradation work. Through the syndicate, the owners of some of the previously listed contracting organizations created obstacles to the registration of any organization other than the contracting organization of their choice. Against the 172 applications for registration, the previous GM Asaduzzaman Khan first included the names of 31 and later 8 more, for a total of 39 organizations, most of which were outside the district and far-flung organizations. When various questions arose in this regard, the Palli Bidyut Samity Rangpur Zone Superintendent Engineer Rezaul Karim gave an instruction to include the 172 organizations in the list through transparency verification, but Thakurgaon Rural Power Association recently secretly finalized the names of 39 organizations by disobeying it.

The general public of Thakurgaon and Panchagarh districts, two districts of Thakurgaon Palli Bidyut Samity, will suffer due to the temporary enlistment of a few preferred contracting companies in exchange for money through illegal means. About 2 million people of the two districts will be held hostage by these few companies, including syndicates.

The owner of a contracting company named Arafat Enterprise, Enamul Haque, complained and said, “I have been working in this company for many years through tenders with transparency. I have never faced any question about the quality of work. This time too, I have paid the necessary bills according to the rules and submitted all the documents. I do not know how any company from a distant district is included in the list except me. Assistant General Manager (AGM E&C) Nahid Islam asked me to bring the recommendation of a big BNP leader. Then something can be done.”

When asked about the allegations, Assistant General Manager (AGM E&C) Nahid Islam evaded them, and when asked about working in the same place for years, DGM (Engineering) Lutful Hasan Sarkar said, “Maybe my work performance is the reason why I was kept here repeatedly from above.” However, he did not say anything about hiring contractors through syndicates.

In this regard, Thakurgaon Palli Bidyut Samity General Manager (GM) Ashraful Alam Khan said, the circular for the recruitment of mini contractors is past and has already been closed. 39 companies have been listed in the wake of 172 applications. I do not know how it happened in the past. However, he did not give any good answer regarding the transparency in the verification and selection through the syndicate or the bias of the selection committee.