Controversy as Janata Bank Waives Massive Debt

State-owned Janata Bank, currently grappling with an existential crisis due to a staggering defaulted loan burden, has sparked a political firestorm by waiving 22.58 crore Taka for a firm owned by Mirza Faisal Amin. Amin is the President of the Thakurgaon District BNP and the younger brother of the party’s Secretary General, Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir.

The institution, where 73.18% of the total loan portfolio is currently classified as defaulted, processed the waiver with “unusual haste,” settling the file within just one week of the application.

The Rise and Stall of Nischintapur Agro

The firm in question, Nischintapur Agro Industries Ltd, was founded during the BNP-Jamaat coalition government when Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir served as the State Minister for Agriculture. Documents reveal that the bank approved a project loan of 10.97 crore Taka in September 2006, just a month before the government’s term ended.

Intriguingly, the same individual who sat on the Board of Directors during that 2006 approval, Muh. Fazlur Rahman, is the current Chairman of the Board who oversaw the recent waiver. Despite claims of being “politically victimised” during the subsequent Awami League era, records show the company actually secured an additional 11 crore Taka in 2010. However, the factory has remained a “dead project” for 17 years, with operations completely ceased since 2011.

Financial Profile: The Nischintapur Waiver

A Sudden Influx of Cash

The timing of the waiver has raised eyebrows within the financial sector. After 17 years of silence and zero transactions, Nischintapur Agro suddenly deposited 1.40 crore Taka in November 2024. This “goodwill” payment appears to have paved the way for the massive interest waiver that followed. Analysts question how a company with a defunct factory, which has produced nothing for over a decade, suddenly acquired such significant liquidity.

Regulatory Concerns and Bank Stability

To facilitate this special treatment, the bank proposed classifying the loan as “SMA” (Special Mention Account)—a status suggesting the loan is risky but not yet formally defaulted. Senior bankers, speaking on condition of anonymity, have slammed this move as a violation of standard banking policy, arguing it masks financial risks and sends a damaging message to honest borrowers.

Janata Bank’s financial health is currently among the worst in the country. With a provision shortfall of 48,031 crore Taka, the bank is essentially surviving on state life support.

Total Loans: 96,565 crore Taka

Defaulted Amount: 70,671 crore Taka

Default Rate: 73.18%

While the bank’s Managing Director, Md. Mujibur Rahman, maintains that the waiver followed Bangladesh Bank circulars aimed at “expedited recovery,” critics argue that the political optics and the deviation from standard risk assessments suggest a deeper systemic failure.