Character certificate: The colonial burden drags on

Be it school enrolment, a job, a trade licence or a passport, there must be a character certificate from local public representatives attached to the application.

Though the legacy of the piece of paper dates back to the British era and was meant to ascertain that the applicant was not involved in any anti-colonial movement, the requirement of the certificate still drags on – which experts have termed "completely unnecessary" and "ludicrous".

Caught in bureaucratic hassles, certificate seekers too question mandating it for joining government jobs even after getting a police clearance. They also raise questions about the integrity of the issuers amid frequent bribe allegations related to an acquisition of the certificate.

A number of people told The Business Standard that they made their certificates on their own with fake seals and signatures to avert harassment and bribes.    

In 1772, British colonial administrator Warren Hastings introduced the character certificate for government services. First-class public officers were then the authorities to issue the certificates, stating the certificate holder "bears a good character and is not involved in any anti-state activity".     

Despite 250 years having elapsed since then, the certification still remains unchanged in Bangladesh, India and Pakistan, with local public representatives now authorised to issue the papers.   

Tofail Ahmed, a noted local government expert, told The Business Standard that following in the colonial footsteps now is completely unnecessary.   

"Union parishad chairmen and first-class government officials provide the certificates even though they usually do not have any idea about the applicants," he added.

Tofail Ahmed said, "Such certificates no longer exist anywhere in the world except in this sub-continent. Continuing this completely unnecessary process only causes suffering to people."

Illustration: TBS

'Chairman not in office, come later'

Arifuzzaman Babu (not real name) joined a government polytechnic institute in Barishal division as an instructor recently. The police are now verifying his addresses and records as the inquiry report will determine whether his job will be made permanent.   

For the sake of verification, Babu rushed to his ancestral village to collect a character certificate. But the union parishad chairman was not in the office and he was repeatedly told to come later.

After more than a week, the youth was able to collect his certificate for submission to the police in Dhaka.

"I had to waste nine days for the piece of paper, and ironically that is just a formality," said a disappointed Babu.    

Nazim Uddin (not real name), a Dhaka dweller, applied for a passport with his permanent address in Bhola a couple of months ago. Nazim had to go to Bhola in the middle of a working week to collect the character certificate.   

"I do not understand why the government is yet to scrap the unnecessary system which eventually makes people suffer," he wondered.

Kamrul Hasan, a job seeker who graduated from Dhaka University, told TBS that he has had the character certificate prepared from the Nilkhet book market as he frequently applies for jobs in the public sector.  

"At first, I approached the authorities for a genuine certificate. As they were dilly dallying, I opted for making the certificate with fake seals and signatures," he told TBS.    

Just a formality?

In Babu's case, the character certificate does not mean anything significant to the Special Branch (SB) of Police.     

Md Humayun Kabir, deputy inspector general of police (SB), told TBS that the union parishad chairmen can make their observations in those certificates, but their verification process can ignore it.

"We take the certificates from the candidates, but we make our own assessments," he said.

According to former cabinet secretary Ali Imam Majumder, the government now should consider scrapping the character certificate requirement.

Md Abul Hasanat Humayun Kabir, additional secretary of the Ministry of Public Administration, said the matter will be discussed at a meeting.

Some 5,500 local government offices across the country issue these certificates. On average, a union parishad issues around 500-600 certificates per month while the major city corporations provide 50,000-60,000 certificates each per month for free.