❐ BD Digest Desk
There have been allegations of sharing a large portion of the contract work for printing textbooks for distribution to students free of charge.
There are allegations that the contractors knew the estimated price set by the government before the tender was called. Later, they divided the work among themselves by submitting slightly higher or lower bids based on that price.
Not only were the bids leaked, but there were also instances of the estimated bids being increased during the bidding process. It is alleged that a section of contractors put pressure on the government to increase the bids after the bids were leaked.
In response to their request, the National Curriculum and Textbook Board (NCTB) revised and increased the estimated price. After that, the contractors participated in the tender and shared the work through an agreement among themselves, the sources said.
A member of the NCTB also admitted that the estimated price was leaked.
However, government procurement experts say that contractors should not know the estimated price under any circumstances. According to them, there is no systematic opportunity to increase the estimated price in the middle of the tender process. If competition is reduced in this way, on the one hand, the government’s costs increase, and on the other hand, there is a risk of the quality of work deteriorating.
An analysis conducted in this regard has shown that the government may incur an additional expenditure of Tk 252 crore just for printing secondary level books due to the estimated cost increase and work sharing among contractors.
Tofail Khan, former president of the Bangladesh Printing Industry Association, said that this time the government’s expenses will increase significantly due to irregularities.
He also said, “I felt like I didn’t have a proper environment to work in this time, so I didn’t participate.”
The government provides free textbooks to primary and secondary school students. Even during Yunus’s tenure, there were allegations of irregularities in book printing. An investigation committee was also formed into the case of hundreds of crores of taka being misappropriated.
About 310 million books will be printed for students in the 2027 academic year. Of these, more than 220 million are for secondary level books and the rest are for primary level books. The potential cost of printing these books has been estimated at 1,900 crore taka.
The government’s goal is to deliver books to students by the beginning of the year. To that end, efforts are underway to send books to the district and upazila levels by November.
The price that was initially set
The process of printing textbooks for 2027 began during the tenure of former NCTB Chairman Md. Mahbubul Haque Patwary. At that time, after examining the market, the official estimated average price of paper per form for primary level books was set at 3 taka 26 paisa. And for secondary level, the price per form was set at 2 taka 85 paisa.
Based on this estimated price, the tender for printing primary level books was made ‘live’ on the electronic tendering system (EGP) on June 3 and 4. That is, the opportunity to apply for the tender online was given. The tender for books for sixth and seventh grades was also made ‘live’ on June 7 and 9, respectively.
According to information received from NCTB and printing industry owners, the estimated price set for paper was leaked at this stage.
NCTB member Abu Naser admitted to the price leak. He said, there are seven-eight committees involved in the book printing process. There may have been an opportunity for information to leak out at some stage. He also admitted that this is a weakness of NCTB.
The estimated paper price was close to the previous year. The contractors felt that if they submitted the tender at that price and got the work, their profit would be less. However, it would save the government money. Then a section of the printing press owners united and requested an increase in the estimated price.
In government procurement, the estimated price is determined by a committee of the relevant agency. If a contractor submits a bid that is 10 percent higher than the estimated price, he is eliminated from the competition. Therefore, it is very important for contractors to know the estimated price in advance.
Contractors usually arrange to know the estimated price by paying large bribes to government officials.
The minutes of the 423rd board meeting of the NCTB state that 75 owners of the printing industry had requested an increase in the estimated rates. In view of their requests, the board decided to re-evaluate the estimated rates. Although the contractors were not supposed to know these estimated rates.
Re-pricing of the estimated price midway through the tender
Sources claim that a new chairman was appointed on June 8 to replace Mahbubul Haque Patwary, who was in charge of the NCTB chairmanship as an additional responsibility. His name is Mohammad Fakhrul Maula. After he took charge, the estimated price was revised while the tender process was still ongoing.
Fakhrul Maula said on his cellphone on September 11 that the estimated rates have been increased this time due to the increase in paper, electricity, gas and transportation costs. In this case, the law has not been violated.
He also said that participating in tenders by compromise may reduce competition. However, this is not entirely under the control of NCTB.
NCTB member Abu Naser also claimed that re-fixing the estimated price after the tender went ‘live’ was not a violation of the law. He also claimed that the concerned ministry and authorities were aware of the matter.
Education Secretary Abdul Khalek was contacted to find out whether the ministry was even aware of the matter. When questioned at his office on September 8, he refused to make any official comment.
Regarding whether the estimated price can be increased during the tender process, government procurement expert and former Director General of the Central Procurement Technical Unit (CPTU) Faruk Hossain said, “There is no scope for changing the estimated price after the tender is invited. To make a change, the previous tender will have to be cancelled and a new tender will have to be invited.”
The price of secondary school textbooks per form has increased by about 44 percent
According to NCTB data, the average order price per form for printing secondary level books in the 2026 academic year was 2 taka 31 paisa. In the 2027 academic year, it increased to 3 taka 32 paisa. That is, the price per form has increased by about 44 percent.
The paper requirement for printing secondary level books in the 2027 academic year has been estimated at 2.5 million reams. One ream is calculated as 1,000 forms. According to the calculation, the additional expenditure of the government due to the estimated increase in the price of paper may be more than Tk 2.5 billion.
The price of primary level books has also increased. In 2026, the average order price per form for books from first to fifth grade was 3 taka 44 paisa. In 2027, it increased to 3 taka 54 paisa.
According to the people concerned, the strategy to collect extra money was basically devised from secondary level books.
Image of limited competition in hundreds of tenders
The book printing work is being awarded in installments. More than 700 tenders have been submitted for this. Of these, 485 tenders were analyzed, and 231 had one bidder. Later, that single bidder got the job. In some cases, multiple organizations from the same owner participated in the same tender.
In some tenders, multiple companies bought the tender papers, but only one company ultimately submitted a bid. In the case of tender number 714 for class VII, 14 companies bought the tenders. But in the end, ‘Letter N Color Limited’ submitted the bid. The company got the job without any competition.
Analysis of the tender documents also revealed that multiple companies from the same owner participated in the tender. In the sixth class tender number 669, Prama Printing, Simanta Press and Bright Printing submitted close bids. All three companies are from the same owner. No other company participated in the competition in this lot.
SM Mohsin, owner of the three companies, said that each company has a separate entity. So there will be no problem in terms of work.
On June 16, the day before the tender submission, a WhatsApp group of printing industry owners discussed the bid.
A source, showing a screenshot of the discussion, claimed that the owners who participated in the negotiation had previously informed the price to be paid for each category of book.
Allegations of two brothers getting a large portion of the work in their company
Agrani Printing Press and Karnaphuli Printers have received a large share of the NCTB book printing work. Hasanuzzaman Rubel, the owner of Agrani Printing Press, and Kausaruzzaman Robin, the owner of Karnaphuli Printers. They are brothers. Sources claim that these two brothers played a major role in negotiating the tender.
Hasanuzzaman was contacted on his mobile phone on September 7 to get his statement on the matter. After hearing the question, he hung up the phone saying he was busy. After that, despite several attempts to contact him, his statement could not be obtained.
Blacklisted companies also got work
The NCTB had last blacklisted seven institutions for alleged irregularities in textbook printing. However, after new chairman Fakhrul Maula took office, the ban was lifted, citing open competition in the tender.
It is learnt that at least two of the blacklisted institutions have received work again this time. The two institutions are Barnamala Press and Sohagi Printing Press. These institutions are accused of supplying low-quality books.
‘How the information got out, we need to investigate and identify those involved’
Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) Executive Director Iftekharuzzaman said that the fact that the press owners were given the opportunity to know the estimated price in advance in the NCTB book printing tender is a major weakness. We need to investigate how the information was leaked and identify the people involved.
Iftekharuzzaman also said that such incidents have been an ‘open secret’ for a long time. The irregularities are not stopping because effective measures are not taken.
https://stapravda.ru/20221228/reyting_samyh_populyarnyh_hostingov_v_rossii_196445.html, рейтинг хостингов России подтверждает, что выбор надежного провайдера важен для бизнеса.