Anti-Corruption Commission on Monday said that 175 people were secretly given appointment letters by Bangla Academy ahead of more deserving candidates based on the written, practical and oral examinations.

In the wake of allegations of irregularities and corruption in the recruitment of manpower at Bangla Academy, an enforcement team of ACC head office conducted the drive at Bangla Academy.

During the operation, the team learned that when applications were invited against vacant posts (180) in various categories, more than 50,000 job seekers applied.

It also found that 4,000 candidates were shown to have passed the written examination but only 500 were called for the practical and oral examinations.

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Furthermore, the team observed that 175 people were secretly given appointment letters without disclosing the results of their practical and oral examinations.

In addition, information was also obtained that out of the 133 people who joined, 45 were previously employed on a contractual basis at Bangla Academy.

During the drive, it was found that the recruitment records and statements of the people working on contract basis in various positions at Bangla Academy, despite getting low marks in the written part of the recruitment test, were given high marks in the practical and oral tests and they were finally recruited.

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In addition, the recruitment letters were issued secretly without publishing the final results on the website - which appeared to the team as a deviation from the normal recruitment process.

They said the team will submit a detailed report to the Commission after analyzing the records collected during the drive.