Accountability absent in Biman

Civil Aviation Minister Rashed Khan Menon yesterday said he felt bad that neither the Biman chairman nor any of its officials informed him about the recent arrest of Biman officials for alleged links with a gold smuggling racket.

At a talk show of a private TV channel, the minister said he thought that the Biman chairman would brief him on the entire situation. As it didn't happen, he tried to communicate with the Biman authorities through his ministry's secretary.

Both Menon and ex-civil aviation minister GM Quader, also present at the show, stressed the need for making Biman accountable to people through the aviation minister, a representative of the people.

“Biman is a public institution owned fully by the government. The problem is that we cannot ensure its accountability. It is very important to establish that,” said Menon.

Quader said there is serious lack of accountability in Biman.

According to the rules, the Biman board's job is to make policies while the managing director supervises the day-to-day work, he said.

“The chairman is not supposed to interfere in day-to-day activities.” The authority to hire or fire staff is vested in the ministry since Biman is a state-run organisation, he said.

Sharing his experience as the aviation minister, Quader said, “When the ministry tried to perform the responsibilities for hiring and firing, it could not do so for different reasons.”

The ministry had no control over Biman, and there was no accountability in the national carrier, he said.

The issue was taken up with the prime minister, who holds the authority to appoint or sack the Biman chairman and board members.

But the PM didn't make any change in the Biman board might be because she still had faith in the chairman and the board members, said Quader.

When he was aviation minister, many allegations were raised over lease of aircraft by Biman. Some of the allegations were found to be true, but nothing could be done as the ministry had only one representative -- a secretary -- in the Biman board.

The secretary couldn't make any difference, as the board made all decisions by majority, he added.