Jhalakathi Kathi Inauguration Secondary School headmaster A.B.M. Anisur Rahman Palash has been accused of various irregularities, accepting appointments on fake certificates and embezzling funds for a long time. Despite all these allegations, he recently got the post of general secretary of the district's Corruption Prevention Committee (DUPROC).
Locals say that giving an important responsibility like DUPROC or General Secretary of Corruption Prevention Committee to a person who is himself accused of irregularities and corruption has created surprise and anger in the public mind.
The complaint states that in 2001, five years of experience was mandatory for the recruitment of teachers in Bengali subjects in schools. But Anisur Rahman applied for the post of 'Teacher cum Clerk' by showing his job experience and was appointed on the basis of that certificate. The complainants claim that there is no post called 'Teacher cum Clerk' in the government manpower structure - so that the experience certificate is fake. The then candidate Manjurul Haque secured first place but was dropped on the pretext of lack of experience. Later, objections were raised in the school's managing committee meeting.
Then, in 2018, after Anisur Rahman joined the post of headmaster by paying a large sum of money to the chairman of the managing committee, the financial and administrative activities of the school came under his sole control. It is alleged that he spent the budget without the committee's approval, was not transparent in making financial decisions, and also managed the school's bank account on his own. This has led to numerous allegations of irregularities in the use of various school funds over the past seven years.
The most discussed allegation is irregularities in the tiffin fund. A complaint was filed in the court regarding this. Although 75 taka of tiffin fee was charged from 1,100 students of the school per month, in fact, tiffin was provided to an average of 500 students every day, with the maximum cost of a daily meal being 5 taka. As a result, although an account of the annual expenditure of about 8 to 9 lakh taka of tiffin fund is available, there is no voucher, receipt or supply register for it. Several teachers and guardians said that there is a suspicion that this money was used personally instead of being deposited in the school's bank account.
A guardian complained that there were irregularities in tiffin money, magazine funds, development grants - everywhere. The headmaster has ordered that tiffin be sent to his house every day. Several teachers, on condition of anonymity, said that the headmaster runs everything in the school as he sees fit. If anyone raises questions, he intimidates them.
In addition, there have been allegations that the money received from selling old benches, construction materials and books was used personally instead of being deposited in the school's bank account. No sales receipt, authorization letter or bank statement showed information about these deposits. The complainants claim that there was no transparency in the expenditure of school funds. In addition, he illegally took several lakhs of taka from the district Awami League treasurer Monirul Islam Talukder, the contractor for the construction of a cyclone shelter on the school grounds at a cost of 8 crore taka.
A new chapter also emerged in the 2019 audit. During the audit at that time, Anisur Rahman was accused of covering up irregularities by paying a 'bribe' of about 2.5 lakh taka. However, since there is no comment on this in the audit report, questions have arisen as to whether the report was intentionally changed or not.
The allegations include not only financial but also administrative intimidation. Some members of the managing committee have stated in writing that whenever they raise questions, the headmaster threatens to remove them from the committee or demand compensation. As a result, many remain helpless and remain silent.
According to local sources, he has participated in various party programs during the then Awami League government and is serving as the general secretary of the Bangabandhu Education and Research Council. There are several posts and photos of him on social media, where he was active in various meetings and gatherings of the Awami League. He wrote a poem on Facebook calling the then Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina a compassionate mother and a charioteer to fulfill dreams.
However, since the fall of the Awami League on August 5, there has been a dramatic change in his character. He suddenly started praising BNP and its leaders and also wrote poems about martyred President Ziaur Rahman. Locals say that he is repeatedly changing his position to gain political benefits. On his visiting card, he has written himself as an educationist and a poet. He is always busy in flattering influential people.
The complaint further states that he is always busy in various activities besides teaching, being associated with many organizations. Without thinking about the development of the school and students, he spends his time on these social and political activities. Many have raised the question - where does a headmaster get time to run so many organizations?
In addition, there are also allegations against him of embezzling the stall rental money of Ubadan Secondary School. The complainants said that the money for the Iftar mahfil organized by the school, the rent money taken from the shop and stalls were not included in the school's account books, but were rather embezzled personally.
Finally, what is even more surprising is that despite all these allegations, Palash was appointed as the secretary of the District Corruption Prevention Committee (DCPC) in 2025. Local citizens claim that this is a decision that is against the public interest and against morality.
Sources concerned said that he was appointed with a fake certificate in 2001, joined as a headmaster in 2018, irregularities in the audit in 2019, corruption in Tiffin and Development Fun
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