The New Nation - Internet Edition

UNB, Dhaka

The committee, formed to review the applications of Biman employees who went on retirement under the Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS) and now want their jobs back, found irregularities that included direct or indirect threat from Biman high officials.

The Civil Aviation and Tourism Ministry formed the three-member committee on January 2 asking for its report within two weeks. Later, the deadline was extended.

Civil Aviation and Tourism joint secretary Fakhrul Islam was made convenor of the committee while Biman finance director Muhammad Tahir Hossain as member and Civil Aviation and Tourism deputy secretary M Majibur Rahman the member- secretary.

The committee was asked to find out whether there were any irregularities in the VRS process.

"We've found that there was direct or indirect threat on some Biman officials to go for VRS," a member of the committee told UNB. In its report, the committee said one or more high officials of the Biman hang a list that mentioned the name of Biman officials for VRS.

"We got indication that one or more high officials of the Biman asked indirectly the persons whose names were on the list to go for VRS, else deprived from their benefits or be sacked," the committee member said.

The Biman authorities last year had planned to cut 1,593 jobs in its eight departments to trim its manpower to 3,400 from about 5,000. The eight departments are Customer Service, Engineering, Project and Planning, Administration, Finance, Store and Purchase, Flight Operation, and Marketing and Sales.

Accordingly, the authorities had invited applications on June 4 last year from its employees willing to go on retirement under the VRS plan.

As of June 20 last year, some 2,267 employees submitted their applications for the voluntary retirement, but most of them alleged that they were forced to sign the printed VRS form of retirement.

As the number of applicants exceeded the number of the planned job cut, the government formed a committee, headed by Biman managing director MA Momen, to make a short list.

The committee finalised a list of 1,877 employees of different departments for the voluntary retirement, a programme that was called 'golden handshake'.

The voluntary retirement-seekers later drew their designated retirement benefits.

Later, over 500 Biman employees who already went on retirement under the VRS made an appeal to the government that they had to accept the VRS amid threats by some high officials.

The Civil Aviation Authority formed the inquiry committee following the appeal.

Meanwhile, on March 25, the High Court issued an interim injunction on contractual appointment of flight stewardesses by Bangladesh Biman Airlines Ltd for its aircraft. A High Court Division Bench, headed by Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain, issued the interim injunction following a writ petition challenging the legality of Biman's impugned action on initiating contractual appointment of Flight Stewardesses before submission of its review board report.

Ferdousi Begum Karnaj and six others, who were allegedly forced to retire under the voluntary retirement scheme last year, had filed the writ petition.

The court also issued a rule upon the Biman Bangladesh Airlines Ltd in this regard.

This impugned action of Biman aggrieved VRS staff that prompted them to move to the High Court seeking redress.