HEADLINE: |
NSU Board of Trustees recast
Peoples Time Desk
|
President Abdul Hamid yesterday reconstituted the Board of Trustees of North South University by dropping seven of its former members. The president, also the chancellor of the university, reconstituted the NSU trustee board as some members of the previous board were "found to be involved in anti-state activities, sponsorship of militancy, corruption and arbitrariness" in a probe by the University Grants Commission (UGC). This violates the law and penal code, said the Secondary and Higher Education Division (SHED) in an order yesterday. It said that four trustees are now behind bars following an order of the High Court in a case filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission over their involvement in financial corruption in the land purchase process of the university. Moreover, a supplementary charge sheet has been submitted against another trustee over forging government documents related to the appointment of treasurer to the university, read the order. In such a situation, it is not appropriate to include the accused persons in the Board of Trustees. Academic and operational activities are being hampered as the trustee board cannot be run fully, the SHED said. The president also decreased the number of board members to 12 from 16. The seven dropped previous trustee board members are: Azim Uddin Ahmed, chairman of Mutual Group of Companies; Benajir Ahmed, managing director and CEO of Raymond Group of Industries; Aziz Al Kaiser, vice chairman of Partex Star Group; MA Kashem, chairman of Mutual Group of Industries; Rehana Rahman, managing director of Bengal Tradeways Ltd; Mohammed Shajahan, managing director of Shah Fatehullah Textile Mills Ltd and Jalal Ahmed Spinning Mills Ltd; and Nurul H Khan, former chairman of National Board of Revenue. The ACC sued five members of the NSU board of trustees -- Azim Uddin Ahmed, Mohammed Shajahan, Benajir Ahmed, MA Kashem and Rehana Rahman -- and Ashalaya Housing Managing Director Amin Md Hilaly over laundering about Tk 304 crore. All the five are businessmen. Shajahan, Benajir, Kashem and Rehana had sought anticipatory bail from the High Court, but the court denied their petitions and sent them to jail on May 22. They are now behind bars. Meanwhile, the president kept nine of the previous board members in the new one, including ex officio member Prof Atiqul Islam, vice chancellor of NSU. The eight others are: MA Kalam, managing director of TK Group of Industries; SM Kamaluddin, chairman and managing director of Concord Engineers and Constructions Ltd; Abul Kashem, managing director of Abul Khair Group; Yasmin Kamal, director of Minhaz Group of Industries; ASF Rahman, chairman of BEXIMCO Group of Industries; Junaid Kamal Ahmad, senior economist of World Bank, Washington DC, USA; Fawzia Naaz, chairman of United Phosphorus (Bangladesh) Ltd; and Tanveer Harun, vice-chairman of Incontrade Ltd. The presidentadded three new faces to the board -- Javed Munir Ahmed, Faiza Jamil and Sheema Ahmed. The SHED order said that according to Section 35 (7) of the Private University Act, 2010, if there is a stalemate in a private university for any reason or if its normal academic activities are disrupted and there is risk of students being harmed, the chancellor, upon recommendations from the UGC and the education ministry, can take any necessary decision in the interest of continuing the normal academic activities of the said university. And the decision of the chancellor in this regard shall be considered as final.
|