In 2019 and 2020, former Hathazari upazila nirbahi officer (UNO) Mohammad Ruhul Amin and his wife Farzana Sharmin Mousumi planted 30,000 trees beside various schools and roads at their own expense, work that was praised across the country at the time. The couple were nominated in 2021 for the National Award for Tree Plantation 2022, but they were later dropped and the award was given to the Hathazari upazila parishad instead. The reason given for not giving the award to Ruhul Amin was that he had applied for it while hiding his official position.

In this situation, on 28 May 2022, Ruhul Amin and Farzana Sharmin applied to the secretary of the environment ministry to withdraw their application for the award, which was widely reported in the media at the time. Nearly two years later, the public administration ministry has given Mohammad Ruhul Amin, the then Hathazari UNO praised for tree planting, the penalty of "reprimand".

Mohammad Ruhul Amin is now serving as secretary (acting) of the Bangladesh Tea Board in Chattogram.

A notification issued by the public administration ministry on 10 April said: "On the eve of World Environment Day and the Environment Fair and the National Tree Plantation and Tree Fair held on 5 June 2022, Ruhul Amin, having failed to achieve a base personal interest, called into question the proper and lawful activities of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, and thereby damaged the image of the government."

The notification does, however, acknowledge Ruhul Amin's creation of gardens. It says: "The charge of 'misconduct' against Ruhul Amin under rule 3(b) of the Government Servants (Discipline and Appeal) Rules, 2018 has been proved. But as he has done positive work in the public interest by creating several gardens, although the charge against him is proved beyond doubt, it appears proper to give him the lowest penalty, 'reprimand'."

As the reason for the penalty against former UNO Ruhul Amin, the notification says: "While serving as Hathazari upazila nirbahi officer, he applied for the Prime Minister's National Award for Tree Plantation 2022, hiding his own identity and in his wife's name."

As a further reason, the notification says: "As there was no scope for receiving the award personally, he applied on 28 May 2022 to the secretary of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change to withdraw the award application with false information and forged minutes, and by supplying the same false information and forged documents had news published in several national newspapers, damaging the image of the ministry and the government."

People in Hathazari, and in Chattogram more widely, have been stunned by the ministry's notification. They cannot accept that the officer is facing punishment instead: a man whose skill was credited for the remote Monai Tripura Palli, whose contribution to protecting the Halda river, declared a Bangabandhu Heritage, was praised by all, and who beautified Hathazari upazila by planting 30,000 trees on his own initiative.

Upazila freedom fighters' commander Bir Muktijoddha Nurul Alam told Jago News: "Ruhul Amin sahib is a brave and honest man. He was free of corruption. What he did was not for himself but for the area. Many people simply dislike someone who does good work."

When Jago News contacted former Hathazari UNO Ruhul Amin, he declined to comment.

The Hathazari upazila parishad in Chattogram did not plant any trees with its own funds in 2019 or 2020. There was no application from the upazila for the Prime Minister's National Award for Tree Plantation, and the upazila parishad's name was not on the list of recommendations sent by the upazila-level committee. Yet in 2022 the Hathazari upazila parishad received the national award for a special contribution to tree planting.

Documents obtained by Jago News show that at a meeting in the Hathazari upazila parishad conference room on 13 January 2021, the upazila committee nominated Ruhul Amin and Sharmin for the award in category "Chha", for individual tree planting. Yet at a meeting chaired by the Chattogram deputy commissioner on 11 March that year, Hathazari upazila's name was written in for the award in category "Ga", for unions, upazilas, municipalities and city corporations.

Admitting this, then Hathazari upazila chairman Rashedul Alam told the media at the time: "I did not plant any trees, nor did I have them tended by a gardener. On 26 May I suddenly got a phone call about the award. I made no application. The ministry decided on the award."

Later, on 26 May, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change published the final list of nominees for the "Prime Minister's National Award for Tree Plantation 2020" in 10 categories. The Hathazari upazila parishad won first prize in category "Ga", and the names of Ruhul Amin and Farzana Sharmin were dropped from the list.

In this situation, on 28 May, Ruhul Amin and Farzana Sharmin applied to the secretary of the environment ministry to withdraw their application. It said the upazila parishad was getting the award without applying; the upazila parishad had spent no money on tree planting in 2019 and 2020; their personal initiative was being passed off in the upazila parishad's name; and the photos and data the upazila committee had evaluated and sent were of their personal work.

In the application to the secretary, Ruhul Amin and Farzana Sharmin said: "We request that no one else be given the award by showing our tree-planting work." But the environment ministry took no action even after this application. Instead, nearly two years later, Ruhul Amin has been given a reprimand instead of an award.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.