Bangladesh Government Press operating with a lax security

The Bangladesh Government Press has been facing allegations of question paper leak but the authorities have not yet taken steps to plug possible loopholes.

Although BG Press’s responsibility was proven in the question leak of a government recruitment exam in 2010, its internal regulations have remained unchanged.

The printing of questions of various public and recruitment examinations take a long time at the government press in the absence of modern printing facilities.

It has already started printing the 2015 Secondary School Certificate questions and the job is expected to take 62 days to complete. The public exam will be held on Feb 2 next year.

BG Press deputy director Nazrul Islam said the 260 workers who work in the confidential section were appointed in the same way as the others.

"They enter the secret branch at 7am. The gate is under constant police surveillance. The police along with the organisation's officials search the workers on their way out at night."

Constant surveillance is also done with the help of 32 closed-circuit cameras.

Despite the 2010 leak revealing that police were linked with the confidential branch workers, Nazrul Islam claimed there was 'no way' the questions could have been leaked from the government press.

Nazrul also said the search procedure had been added after the 2010 incident following which several employees were sacked.

However, another BG Press official complained that the search was not performed regularly. Moreover, some officials had also been mentioned as possible suspects in the mass media, suggesting that merely keeping an eye on the press workers was not a sufficient safeguard.

Confidential wing workers, police and even trade union leaders could also be involved in leaking questions, the official added on the condition of anonymity.

"A proper investigation would spill the beans. At times, the officials are not present with the police at the gate."

Nazrul said the wearing of under garments was prohibited for the workers once they entered the confidential section.

During winter special apparel, kept in the press, are provided. They also have breakfast, lunch and dinner inside the press.

People who look after the workers also stay in the press.

"Extra workers are deployed while printing the question papers of major exams. If someone's relative is an examinee he or she is barred from working. They have to fill out declaration forms before the printing."

He claimed the workers leave for home after work, making it impossible for them to memorize questions while working.

Printing is done with the help of 13 offset machines. Time of printing could be cut down by hours if modern printing technology were available but there was no fund allotment.

BG Press Assistant Director Mohammad Alamgir suspects that question are possibly leaked when they are sent to various parts of the country before the exams.

Probe committees formed for leaks of last year's primary terminal exams, this year's HSC English Second Paper and 33rd BCS written question papers have suggested the tightening of security in the confidential sections of the BG Press.