BB selects 30 officials for DU AI course, excludes women over 'safety' reasons

The Bangladesh Bank has selected 30 officials to attend an Applied Artificial Intelligence course at Dhaka University, but none of them are women, with the central bank saying female officers were excluded from the first batch because of safety concerns linked to late-evening classes.

The 12-week Applied AI for Central Bank Officials course, organised by the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, is scheduled to begin on 20 July.

According to the central bank, around 20% of the 473 applicants were women.

The list of 30 selected officials, obtained by The Business Standard, was published by the central bank's Human Resources Department-2 (HRD-2) on 13 July. It includes 18 additional directors, eight joint directors and four assistant directors. All are men.

The Bangladesh Bank invited applications for the course through a circular issued by HRD-2 on 2 July, asking eligible officials to apply by 6 July. Officials from the ranks of assistant director to additional director were eligible to apply.

Classes are scheduled to be held twice a week, on Mondays and Wednesdays, from 6pm to 8:30pm, with the Bangladesh Bank providing a travel allowance of Tk700 per class.

According to officials, the final list was prepared by the Human Resources Department without any written test or interview.

Responding to questions from TBS, Bangladesh Bank spokesperson and Executive Director Arief Hossain Khan said Governor Mostaqur Rahman had entrusted HRD-2 with selecting the participants. He said, "HRD-2 was assigned to prepare the list and the governor instructed the department to select the officials independently."

Explaining why no women were selected, Arief said, "The director of HRD-2, [Nasima Sultana], felt that, as it is the rainy season and attending an evening course outside the office could create difficulties, female officials should not be included in the first phase.

"However, they will be included in the second phase after the first batch is completed," he added.

The published list also shows that all 30 selected officials are posted at Bangladesh Bank's head office. No officials from the Motijheel office, Sadarghat office or the Bangladesh Bank Training Academy were included.

The Human Resources Departments 1 and 2 are overseen by Deputy Governor Habibur Rahman.

A senior Bangladesh Bank official told TBS that while the HRD determined which specific officials would be nominated for the course, the decision to select an all-male cohort has sparked criticism within the central bank.

Female officials express dissatisfaction

The decision has also sparked dissatisfaction among female Bangladesh Bank officials.

The Business Standard spoke to several women officials who had applied for the course.

They said they had submitted applications for the Dhaka University's Applied AI course but were not informed about the selection process. After speaking with HRD officials, they were told that women had not been included because classes would end at night and there were concerns about their safety.

One female official said she was surprised after seeing the final list. "I was extremely surprised to see that none of the 30 selected officials are women. It is quite shocking. Preparing the list using such criteria creates discrimination. Having 30 men and not a single woman is very difficult to justify," she said.

Another female official questioned the reasoning behind the decision. 

"We often work at Bangladesh Bank until 9pm or even 11pm. The central bank does not provide transport for us to get home after office hours. We have to manage that ourselves. Why doesn't Bangladesh Bank consider the safety of female officials at those times?" she said.

"Even if the class ends at 8:30pm at Dhaka University, everyone can return home on their own responsibility. Excluding women because they might face problems at night is not acceptable."

She said she had felt disappointed since seeing the list. "The most important thing is that officials should be considered as people, not judged on whether they are men or women," she added.

Another female official said she had applied for the course because she considered it important for her professional development.

"I was not called for a written test or an interview. I have no issue with not being selected. However, I noticed that there is not a single female officer on the final list," she said.