Allegation of Tk50cr transaction rocks EDCL MD appointment

The appointment of the new Managing Director (MD) of Essential Drugs Company Limited (EDCL), the country’s only state-owned pharmaceutical manufacturer, has triggered controversy within the health sector amid allegations of irregularities, secrecy and massive financial transactions.

AK MD Ashrafuzzaman has been appointed to the post on a one-year contractual basis, reportedly bypassing existing procedures, rules and the company’s board of directors.

Several officials in the health sector claimed that Ashrafuzzaman was not widely known within the pharmaceutical administration, with some saying they had little familiarity with him before the appointment.

Officials at the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare alleged that the appointment was made without approval from the EDCL board and involved an alleged financial transaction of around Tk50 crore.

“A transaction of Tk50 crore was made for a position considered one of the most lucrative and influential in the country’s health administration,” a ministry official told the Daily Sun on condition of anonymity.

According to ministry insiders, the post had become the focus of intense lobbying with several contenders allegedly offering large sums of money in an attempt to secure the position. Under EDCL regulations, any proposal for appointing a managing director is supposed to be forwarded to the Ministry of Public Administration following approval from the seven-member board of directors headed by the health minister.

However, the gazette notification regarding the appointment was issued on 21 May while senior members of the board, including State Minister for Health Dr MA Muhit and Health Secretary Md Kamruzzaman Chowdhury, were attending the 79th World Health Assembly in Geneva, Switzerland, held from 18 to 23 May.

Speaking over the phone from Geneva on Monday, Kamruzzaman said, “I am still in Geneva. I know nothing about this appointment. I cannot say when or how the board meeting took place. I will speak after returning home.”

The development has sparked anger and frustration within sections of the ministry with officials questioning the procedural legitimacy of the appointment.

An EDCL official said board members had attended a meeting at the ministry only a week earlier, but no agenda or discussion regarding the appointment of a new MD had been placed before them.

Dr Ashrafi Ahmad, director general of the Directorate General of Family Planning and a member of the EDCL board, also confirmed that no such agenda had been discussed.

“There was no agenda regarding the appointment in the last board meeting. We are not aware of the matter,” she said.

The appointment process has also drawn scrutiny over an unusual level of secrecy. Although the Ministry of Public Administration issued the gazette notification last Thursday, it was not uploaded to the ministry’s website until Saturday night.

The notification cited Section 54(3) of the Memorandum of Association of EDCL under the Companies Act, 1994, as the basis for the direct appointment.

Although the newly appointed MD has already submitted his joining letter, the process has created a stir across the health administration.

Repeated attempts to contact Health Minister Sardar Md Sakhawat Hossain, who chairs the EDCL board, for comment were unsuccessful.

Mohammad Mahmudul Hasan, deputy principal information officer (director) at the ministry, also said he was unaware of the matter. “I know nothing about this.”