The Family Card Programme, which the government has described as one of the key pledges in the Bangladesh Nationalist Party's (BNP) election manifesto, is being implemented under the slogan "People are not the unit of development; families are." As part of the programme, recruitment examinations for information collectors and supervisors were held in Mohanpur upazila of Rajshahi on Tuesday.
The written, oral and digital skills tests began at 10:00am at different venues across the upazila and continued until completion.
According to the upazila administration, 649 candidates applied for the posts of information collector and 77 applied for supervisor, making a total of 726 applicants. From them, 85 information collectors and eight supervisors, including reserved positions, will be selected on the basis of merit and qualifications.
The recruitment process was conducted through nine examination boards for information collectors and one board for supervisors. The tests were held at the Upazila Social Services Office, Fisheries Office, Accounts Office, Agriculture Office, Disaster Management Office, two LGED offices, Cooperative Office, JICA Office, ICT Office and the office of the Upazila Agriculture Officer.
The examination was supervised by the Family Card Volunteer Selection Committee, headed by Upazila Nirbahi Officer Fahima Binte Akhtar, with Upazila Social Services Officer Imam Hasan Shamim serving as member secretary. Assistant Commissioner (Land) and ICT Officer Shahadat Hossain also served on the committee.
Several candidates expressed satisfaction with the recruitment process. Monayem Ali from Bakshimail Union said the examination was conducted in a fair environment and that he was confident about his performance. Another candidate, Nahida Yasmin from Mougachi Union, said the written, oral and digital skills tests were well organised.
Imam Hasan Shamim said candidates' qualifications would be assessed through written, oral and digital skills tests and that the entire recruitment process would be completed transparently and strictly on merit.
He added that officials from different government offices assisted in conducting the examinations, while police and Ansar personnel were deployed to maintain law and order.
UNO Fahima Binte Akhtar said, "Selecting competent and qualified information collectors is crucial for the successful implementation of the Family Card Programme. The recruitment process is being conducted with transparency, neutrality and merit. There is no scope for undue influence, and only the most qualified candidates will be selected."
The Family Card Programme aims to create a unified digital database of low-income and vulnerable families to facilitate targeted social protection services and improve the transparency and efficiency of government welfare assistance.
