After the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government on August 5 in the mass uprising of students and the public, there has been a demand to remove fascists from all sectors of the country. The interim government has also brought about reshuffles in many places. Institutions that have been conducting tenders for a long time have also been blacklisted. The only exception is the National Curriculum and Textbook Board (NCTB).
It has been alleged that the institution’s textbook printing work is still in the hands of Awami League cronies. They have still kept the book printing work under their control by syndicating it. Among them, Rabbani Jabbar, the brother of Mustafa Jabbar, a former minister in the Awami League government, alone has received the work of printing more than 13.3 million textbooks.
According to NCTB sources, Rabbani Jabbar’s two institutions have received the work of printing a total of 13.3 million books from the first to the tenth grade for the next academic year. Of these, 19 lots of 130,000 books are for classes 6 to 10, the rest are for primary. He got this job through two presses - ‘Ananda’ and ‘Apex’. Those involved in this government work have expressed surprise at the fact that the former minister’s brother got the job of printing so many books after August 5. Two government intelligence agencies have also started investigating the matter.
Rabbani Jabbar is the brother of Mustafa Jabbar, a former minister in the Awami League government. He alone got the job of printing more than 13.3 million textbooks.
It has been alleged that even though these jobs were done under the nose of the tender control organization NCTB, the organization was Nidhiram Sardar. Not only that, in tenders 28 and 32 for class 9 books, instead of giving the job to the lowest bidder Government Offset Press, NCTB gave the job to the second bidder Ananda Printers and Diganta. Like every time, this time too, the estimated bids were leaked. Knowing that price, this time too, it was decided in advance which press would get the job of printing how many books, who would bid for which lot and how much. This syndicate was basically led by Rabbani Jabbar, the owner of Molla Printing Press and some others. NCTB did not take any action despite knowing everything. On the contrary, the organization made all the arrangements for the government’s additional expenditure of Tk 783 crore.
It is known that Rabbani Jabbar is the owner of Ananda Printers Limited and the chairman of Bangladesh Printing Industry Association. He is the younger brother of former Posts and Telecommunications Minister Mustafa Jabbar. In addition, he was elected chairman unopposed as the Awami League’s nominated candidate in the 2021 by-election of Netrokona’sKhaliajuri Upazila Parishad.
When asked how he got this job, NCTB Chairman Professor AKM Riazul Hasan told Daily Industry, ‘He got the job by fulfilling all the conditions. He was given the job in accordance with the government public procurement rules (PPR). He is the brother of a former minister in Sheikh Hasina’s government, did he know this or not? In response to a question, he said, “Even if we know, legally we have nothing to do.”
The same answer was received from Professor Dr. Riyad Chowdhury, who is directly involved in book printing and NCTB member (textbooks). He told Daily Industry, “I don’t see a problem if he gets the job by following the legal process.” In response to a question about whether this goes with the spirit of August 5 or not, he said, “I can’t say that.”
On the other hand, those involved in the tender said that even during the Awami League’s rule in the last 15 years, he (Rabbani Jabbar) did not get so much work. Records show that in the last three years, his two presses got an average of 4 million book printing work. This time, he has broken all records and got the job of printing 13.3 million books. Even though the Awami League government has fled, he is still alive.
When asked about this, Rabbani Jabbar told Dhaka Post, “I got the job by following all the government rules. Whether I personally did anything wrong or not is the main issue.”
Those concerned alleged that the NCTB officials were silent even after knowing that he was the brother of a former Awami League minister. Not only that, he got the courage to work with the patronage of some leaders of the Printing Industry Association. Although no one from the association is willing to speak out on the matter. A former leader of the Printing Association said that it is not just Rabbani Jabbar, several people were directly associated with the Awami League in this sector. On average, they got jobs of 1.5 to 3 crore books. Four of the top five people who got the job were somehow close to the previous government. Three of them were leaders of the Jubo League central committee and also got the job of printing books this year.
Their comment is that the brother of a former minister accused of genocide is supposed to be on the run, but he is working on printing textbooks for free with the help of the government. He is going to the Secretariat, NCTB and even government offices, and is openly taking work by bidding. This is dishonesty with the July Revolution.
It is learned that Rabbani Jabbar was seen sitting in the NCTB chairman’s room in Motijheel on Sunday morning (December 22) talking about various issues including the crisis of book paper. He did not face any obstacles in meeting the chairman. He last met with the education advisor at the secretariat.
When attention was drawn to these issues, Md. Nuruzzaman, Joint Secretary of the Secondary and Higher Education Department of the Ministry of Education, which is responsible for supervising book printing, told Daily Industry, “Those involved in book printing syndicate work every year. There, they work above the party umbrella. I was not aware of the minister’s brother getting work. I will keep an eye on this in the future.”
How many books of which class did Rabbani Jabbar get the job of printing
According to NCTB sources, Mustafa Jabbar’s brother Rabbani Jabbar got the job of printing more than 1 crore 3 lakh books in 19 lots of secondary level this year. Out of this, 23 lakh 30 thousand 600 books in four lots in sixth class through Anand Printers, 20 lakh 22 thousand 157 books in three lots in eighth class, 19 lakh 84 thousand 104 books in five lots in ninth class, and 17 lakh 19 thousand 172 books in three lots in tenth class. On the other hand, another press owned by him got the job of printing 22 lakh 72 thousand 600 books in four lots in seventh class through Apex Printers.
In addition, 9 lakh 67 thousand 112 books were printed in two lots (49, 50) of primary first, second and third class through Anand Printers, and 5 lakh 57 thousand 411 books were printed in the same class through Apex Printers in lot 40. Apex Printers has been awarded the task of printing 15 lakh 6 thousand 703 books in lots 43, 51, 59, 60 for classes 4 and 5.
Who will be held responsible if the wrong book is received
NCTB officials say that there has already been a controversy over the position of ‘National Anthem and Flag’ in primary Bengali books. This time, pictures of the national anthem and national flag have been placed on the last page of my Bengali books from class 1 to 5. If the brother of a former minister of the fascist government incites a new controversy over textbooks in this new controversy, then who will be held responsible? In this regard, an NCTB official, without revealing his name, told Dhaka Post, ‘We have informed the NCTB authorities about the matter. But they did not pay attention!’
When asked about this, NCTB Chairman and Member (Textbooks) Professor Dr. Riyad Chowdhury told Daily Industry, ‘We are also cautious about this matter. A monitoring team is working with various government intelligence agencies, 150 teachers from government colleges, NCTB and the education administration.’
However, disagreeing with Riyad Chowdhury’s argument, a senior NCTB official, who did not reveal his name, said, ‘It would have been better if they had not been given the work. Now hundreds of officials have been deployed there. There is no logic to this.’
Various irregularities, show cause notice at the beginning
Ananda Printers, owned by Rabbani Jabbar, has been fined from the beginning for using low-quality paper and committing various irregularities in printing books in two lots (49 and 50) of the second and third grades of primary school. His printing house is in Binodpur, Singair, Manikganj. After the book printing work started, the NCTB inspection team went there and found various irregularities. On November 21, NCTB issued him a show cause notice (show cause). A copy of the notice was also sent to the Ministry of Education.
The show cause notice mentioned that on November 19, members of the NCTB team visited the printing house of Anand Printers Limited in Binodpur, Singair, Manikganj. Upon going there, various irregularities and defects were found in 20,000 bound books. Out of these, 10,000 books had problems with the cutting. The pages of the books were out of order. Two pages were completely out, that is, open.
After receiving the notice, a proper explanation was asked about these defects and irregularities in the books within five working days. NCTB also informed that if the response was not satisfactory, action would be taken as per the tender rules.
It is alleged that NCTB discharged its responsibility only by issuing a notice. No further action was taken in this regard.
