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Published : 03 Jan 2018, 04:59 PM
Bhuiyan, who retired as the industries secretary in June last year, has been brought back to the government job on a two-year contract as chairman of the National Board of Revenue or NBR, according a public administration ministry notice released on Wednesday.
He succeeds Md Nojibur Rahman, who has been elevated to the principal secretary to the prime minister.
In an instant reaction to bdnews24.com, Bhuiyan said he would work to speed up the revenue-boosting measures initiated by his predecessor.
Bhuiyan was supposed to go on post-retirement leave on Jun 30, 2016, as a senior secretary at the Ministry of Industries, but the government extended his job on a one-year contract, just a day before his exit.
An economics graduate from the Dhaka University and a 1981 Bangladesh Civil Service recruit, Bhuiyan was appointed as the acting secretary of the then communication ministry’s Bridges Division in February 2010.
In July the same year, he was promoted to secretary.
After the World Bank raised allegations of graft in the Padma Bridge project, the Anti-Corruption Commission started a case and prosecuted him.
Bhuiyan was suspended after his arrest in the case, but won back his job later when he was released on bail.
The ACC later said they had found no evidence against Bhuiyan and six others named in the case.
The case was dismissed in 2014 after the ACC submitted its final probe report. The court acquitted seven people, including the secretary, of the charges.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said on several occasions that the World Bank raised corruption allegations only to harass her and government officials.
After returning to the administration, Bhuiyan was appointed as the executive chairman of the Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority and later a member of the Privatisation Commission.
In October 2014, he was given the job to helm the industries ministry. He was promoted to senior secretary in April 2016, a little over two months left to go as a civil servant.
But the government cancelled his post-retirement leave and extended the job by a year and he retired on Jun 30, 2017.
Now he has returned to the important job of the top taxman and is set to join the NBR on Thursday, Bhuiyan told bdnews24.com.
“The tax net will be expanded. The current 11 percent tax-GDP ratio is counted against the government’s entire revenue collection. I want the NBR-collected tax to account for 11 percent of GDP.”
Underscoring opening talks with the business community to boost revenue collection, he said. “Creating a tax-friendly atmosphere, encouraging everyone to pay taxes will be my priority.”
