Finance Adviser ‘declines’ meeting with NBR Reform Unity Council amid protests

The much-talked-about meeting scheduled for 4pm between Finance Adviser Dr Salehuddin Ahmed and the NBR Reform Unity Council will not take place.

According to NBR sources, the Finance Adviser ‘declined’ to meet the Unity Council members.

Finance Ministry sources said the Adviser asked the agitating members to call off their protest programme first as a ‘precondition’ for any dialogue.

NBR sources said a 20-member delegation led by Unity Council President Hasan Muhammad Tareq Rikabdar was on its way to meet the Adviser when they were informed about the ‘precondition’.

Officials of the National Board of Revenue (NBR), under the banner of the NBR Reform Unity Council, continued their ‘complete shutdown’ for the second consecutive day on Sunday, demanding the immediate removal of the NBR chairman.

The protesters (officials) staged a sit-in in front of the NBR headquarters in Agargaon in the morning, while a large contingent of Rapid Action Battalion (Rab), Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), and police personnel were deployed inside the building.

The Unity Council has been staging a series of protest programmes, demanding structural reforms and the removal of the NBR Chairman, citing allegations of administrative irregularities, officer intimidation and obstruction of pro-reform efforts.

Since early June, the agitating officials have observed work abstentions, hunger strikes and human chains, disrupting services in tax, VAT and customs offices across the country.

The protest began after the government issued an ordinance on May 12 dissolving the NBR and the Internal Resources Division, replacing them with the Revenue Policy Division and the Revenue Management Division.