A faction of the upazila units of Jubo Dal and Chhatra Dal on Monday locked the main gate of the South Surma Upazila Nirbahi Officer’s (UNO) office and staged a demonstration, alleging irregularities in the recruitment of volunteers as supervisors and data collectors for the Family Card census.
The protesters began their demonstration around 11am under the banner of the South Surma upazila units of Jubo Dal and Chhatra Dal and remained in front of the UNO office until around 1:30pm.
They alleged irregularities in the recruitment process and demanded that those selected through the “questionable” process be removed and genuine candidates be appointed for the census work.
The South Surma upazila administration published the list of volunteers selected for the posts of data collectors and supervisors on its website on Saturday night.
According to the administration, eligible applicants who responded to the recruitment notice were subjected to practical and viva voce examinations before the final selection. The results included lists of final, reserve and waiting candidates.
According to the published results, 69 data collectors and six supervisors were finally selected for eight unions of the upazila. Six candidates were placed on the reserve list and 41 on the waiting list for data collector positions. For supervisor positions, one candidate was placed on the reserve list and four on the waiting list.
However, some Jubo Dal and Chhatra Dal leaders, without naming any individual, alleged that the list of selected candidates had been prepared based on a list provided by an influential local politician.
They claimed many qualified candidates had been left out of the selection.
South Surma UNO Emdadul Haque Sharif said he was not present at his office during the demonstration as he was attending a meeting at the Deputy Commissioner’s office.
“I heard that some people went there and protested over the recruitment of manpower for the Family Card census. But they did not provide any information about what irregularities had taken place,” he said.
Asked about the allegation that the recruitment was based on a list provided by a politician, the UNO said, “This information is not correct. The manpower was recruited from among the applicants through a transparent process following due procedures.”
Meanwhile, similar protests were held by groups of people in Jaintapur on Saturday night and in Companiganj and Balaganj upazilas on Sunday after the final recruitment lists for the Family Card census were published.
The protesters in those upazilas also alleged irregularities and corruption in the recruitment process and claimed that unqualified candidates had been selected.