Hasnat Abdullah, chief organiser for the southern region of the National Citizen Party (NCP) and a member of parliament, has expressed anger at the cancellation of the Department of Youth Development’s recruitment test over an alleged question leak. He said about 300,000 job seekers were put to hardship because the cancellation was announced only five minutes before the test was to begin.
In a Facebook status on Saturday, he said about 300,000 unemployed job seekers had come to Dhaka from remote parts of the country to sit the test. Some had saved money from private tuition and others had borrowed in the hope of a job.
He alleged that news of the leak had been spreading on social media since the night before. Yet it was only when about 300,000 candidates had entered 100 centres, five minutes before the start, that the test was cancelled on the stated ground that the leak had been found to be true.
“Three hundred thousand people were told five minutes beforehand that the exam was cancelled. What a cruel joke!” he wrote.
He asked who would take responsibility for the financial loss and hardship of so many job seekers. Noting that holding the test again would cost the government extra money, he said that money was the people’s and those concerned must be held to account.
Hasnat Abdullah said that after a long period without recruitment notices or recruitment, a test had been arranged and the question-leak rings had become active there too. Candidates would again have to borrow to come to Dhaka for the test, adding to their frustration and uncertainty.
He demanded that the bureaucrats, government officials and people linked to political parties who were involved in the leak be found. If involvement is established, he called for criminal cases, arrests and punishment after a speedy trial.
The NCP leader said that if the question-leak rings are not rooted out, the minister concerned must resign as a matter of accountability. He added that if the minister himself were the head of the ring, it would spread further and not be rooted out.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report