Govt drug company EDCL rife with ‘irregularities and corruption’

Essential Drugs Company Limited (EDCL), the lone state-run pharmaceutical industry, recruited two employees in 2018.

Among them, one was the niece of Md Aftabuzzamana, a former director general of the Commercial Audit Directorate (CAD). Another was the sister of CAD’s incumbent director Sayeed Mohammad Asaduzzaman.

The two recruitments were facilitated after a CAD team had audited EDCL. Aftabuzzaman supervised the team led by Asaduzzaman.

The available information shows that EDCL recruited at least six for its internal audit section. All of the recruits were relatives of EDCL auditors.

Auditors are appointed to identify financial irregularities. Some EDCL staff complained that the audit officers managed jobs for their relatives in exchange of allowing irregularities and corruption in EDCL.

There are more allegations raised against the drug company. The allegations include withdrawing allowances for travel and others before picnics under the guise of official visits, recruiting inefficient staff violating rules.

The total workforce of EDCL is excess than necessary. This is the only exception when all the other wings of the health services directorate have been struggling with scarcity of manpower.

Let us see a comparison. A large team of 435 staff manages maintenance and security of the EDCL’s Dhaka warehouse while a private-run pharmaceutical company officer said they would recruit no more than 35 staff for the tasks.

Managing director of EDCL, professor Ehsanul Kabir admits the company has excess manpower. He told Prothom Alo, “This is a state-run company. Recruitment process here has been influenced by many vested groups. I am not saying that all the recruitments followed proper ways, but the trend of recruiting unnecessary staff has decreased.”

The EDCL headquarters is located adjacent to the Sat Rasta intersection of Tejgaoin in Dhaka. EDCL pharmaceuticals produce 85 types of medicine out of the capacities for 123.

Annually, EDCL supplies medicines worth Tk seven billion (700 crore) to the public health facilities. Private-run pharmaceuticals, though, provide 30 per cent of the medicines.

EDCL has its oldest drug factory at Tejgaon. The company’s Bogura branch has also a drag factory while contraceptive condoms are produced at its Khulna branch. The EDCL’s rubber factory at Madhupur, Tangail, supplies raw materials for the condom production. Besides, EDCL launched a new factory in Gopalganj last year.

Six officers of Commercial Audit Directorate audited EDCL’s financial records of fiscal 2016-17. CAD’s director Sayeed Mohammad Asaduzzaman led the team while its director general Md Aftabuzzaman supervised the audit.

The team started auditing EDCL’s financial records from 21 January 2018. Auditing continued till 29 March of that year. After 17 days, Aftabuzzaman’s niece joined as assistance officer at the EDCL’s internal audit section. Retired from government job, Aftabuzzaman is now working for a private organisation. While enquired by Prothom Alo through phone call, instantly he lost his memory. What role did you play behind recruitment of your niece? He requested to call him the next day. Onwards, he never received calls from Prothom Alo.

Sister of Sayeed Mohammad Asaduzzaman, the leader of the audit team under question, joined EDCL as office assistant on 31 May, 2018. Asaduzzaman too avoided phone calls from Prothom Alo.

There are similar examples of nepotism in EDCL. A lady joined as assistant officer at EDCL on 6 August, 2017. Some EDCL officials said husband of the lady, Narayan Chandra Saha, was involved in auditing the company’s financial record at the beginning of 2017. Narayan Chandra Saha, currently posted at the Internal Resources Division under the finance ministry, told Prothom Alo, “I did not influence recruitment of my wife.”

A young man joined EDCL as junior officer in April, 2017. His father Nazrul Islam is a retired officer of the Department of Inspection and Audit. The junior officer did not entertain Prothom Alo’s enquiry about his father’s role behind his recruitment.

Do the auditors influence EDCL’s recruitment process? The company’s managing director Ehsanul Kabir said, not only the audit officers but also ministers, parliament members, journalists, police and others try to influence the recruitment process. “This is the reality in such a state-run organisation,” he said.

Sector related people take the nepotism in recruitment process by the audit officials as a conflict of interests. They said the practice entertains corruption while making the government loser.

Anti-corruption campaigner Transparency International Bangladesh’s executive director Iftekharuzzaman told Prothom Alo, “What had happened in the EDCL, this is clear that recruitments there were done under mutual understanding. I guess all the parties took advantages. The practice undermined the purpose of audit.”

He added that CAD is actually a corruption prevention organisation. The audit officials rather facilitated corruption. The corrupt officials must be identified and punished.

Some aggrieved officials of EDCL informed their senior officers in this regard. Only the difference they witnessed was a change of their managing director five years ago.

EDCL mainly supplies medicines to the public health facilities including the government hospitals and community clinics. Annually, EDCL supplies medicines worth Tk seven billion (700 crore). Thirty per cent of the medicines are sourced from private-run pharmaceutical companies.

According to EDCL’s managing director, the company produces medicines worth Tk five billion (500 crore) annually. Arround 4,500 people work at EDCL.

Let’s see the manpower of private-run pharmaceutical companies. An emerging pharmaceutical company officials said they produce medicines worth Tk 10 billion (1,000 crore) in a year with a total of 1,500 staff.

Another private-run pharmaceutical company produces medicines worth Tk two billion (200 crore) annually. One manager of the company said, not more than 50 staff manage maintenance and security of the company.

On the other hand, the Dhaka factory of EDCL produces medicines worth Tk 350 million (35 crore). At least 435 people are deployed to look after the factory.

Relative of an influential office bearer at Bangladesh Medical Association (BMA) has been recruited during the tenure of the incumbent managing director of EDCL. MD Ehsanul Kabir himself is an executive committee member of BMA.

Besides, a trade union leader of the Directorate General of Family Planning has brother and sister working at EDCL. Allegations are there that trade union leaders at EDCL also influence recruitment process of the company.

According to the 2017-18 audit report on EDCL, at least 12 employees were recruited there illegally. One of them is EDCL manager Nazrul Islam. Nazrul applied for an EDCL job in 2010. His application suggests that he had working experience at a brick kiln.

Nazrul was appointed as a deputy manager. He did not sit for a written test or a viva voce before his recruitment. Later, he was promoted as manager of the company.

Foyezur Rahman is another example of irregular recruitment. He applied for a post of senior laboratory assistant. His application did not belong to any date. On 13 June 2017, Foyezur was appointed as a junior officer (warehouse) which was an upper post.

That year, Abdur Rahman was appointed as a junior officer (computer) on 14 April. However, there was no designated post at the EDCL recruitment policy. According to documents, Abdur Rahman’s graduation certificate was a forged one. Authorities concerned did not scrutinise his educational certificates.

Every year, EDCL organises a picnic. The last one was held in 2019. The picnic was different. Around 250 officers were brought to Madhupur of Tangail for a picnic in September that year.

Preferring to be anonymous, one EDCL officer told Prothom Alo that EDCL bears the expense of a picnic. The officers attended the 2019 picnic and withdrew travel and other allowances for four days (picnic days). Mainly the privileged officers were picked for the picnic.

EDCL authorities arranged the allowances showing attendance in the picnic as an official duty.

Documents suggest that EDCL issued 18 travel permits for the officers on 18 September 2019. The first one was issued against CBA (collective bargaining agreement) vice-president Md Mizanur Rahman and assistance general secretary Nazrul Islam. The circular reads that the two CBA leaders would travel to Madhupur on an official duty by one EDCL car (Dhaka Metro-Ga-15-2610). The circular also instructed the official concerned to pay each of them Tk 4,000 in advance. Md Shameem Al Mamun was engaged to drive the car. He also received Tk 10,000 in advance of the Madhupur trip. The circular assured that the travelers would receive their travel allowances and after the trip, the advance withdrawal would be adjusted.

The text of the 18 travel permits was almost same. One of those instructed the official concerned to pay EDCL managing director Ehsanul Kabir Tk 18,000 in advance.

CBA assistant general secretary Nazrul Islam said, “Granting travel allowance for picnic goers is a long-time tradition of EDCL.”

* This report appeared on online and print editions of Prothom Alo, has been rewritten in English by Sadiqur Rahman.