Helal Uddin Ahmed (born 23 May 1963) is a retired Bangladeshi government official who is currently a member of the

Bangladesh Public Service Commission Bangladesh Public Service Commission () is a quasi-judicial constitutional body established in 1972. The commission is responsible for the recruitment of civil service servants in the Bangladesh government. It was formed under Section 137 of Par ...

.He served as the Senior Secretary to the

Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Co-operatives The Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Co-operatives () is a ministry of the government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh. It is responsible for the housing and building, regional and rural policy, municipalities of Banglades ...

previously. Helal Uddin Ahmed conducted the 11th National Parliament Election, 2018, which was held on 30 December 2018 while serving as the Secretary of Bangladesh Election Commission.

Early life

Ahmed was born on 23 May 1963 in

Cox's Bazar Cox's Bazar (; ; ) is a city, fishing port, tourism centre, and Cox's Bazar District, district headquarters in south-eastern Bangladesh. Cox's Bazar Beach, one of the most popular tourist attractions in Bangladesh, is the longest uninterrupte ...

of the then

East Pakistan East Pakistan was the eastern province of Pakistan between 1955 and 1971, restructured and renamed from the province of East Bengal and covering the territory of the modern country of Bangladesh. Its land borders were with India and Burma, wit ...

(now

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

). He obtained his graduate and postgraduate degree in

zoology Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the anatomy, structure, embryology, Biological classification, classification, Ethology, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinction, extinct, and ...

from

Chittagong University The University of Chittagong () also known as Chittagong University (CU), is a public research university located in Chittagong, Bangladesh. It was established on 18 November 1966. It is the fifth oldest university of Bangladesh. Having an area ...

in 1983 and 1984 respectively. Later, he obtained orientation degree from

Duke University Duke University is a Private university, private research university in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity, North Carolina, Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1 ...

Career

Ahmed joined the

Bangladesh Civil Service Bangladesh Civil Service (), popularly known by its acronym BCS, is the civil service of Bangladesh. Civil service in the Indian subcontinent originated from the Imperial Civil Service which was the elite higher civil service of the British Empir ...

in the Administration Cadre in February 1988 as an Assistant Commissioner and 1st Class Magistrate in

Kishoreganj District Kishoreganj District () is a district in Dhaka Division, Bangladesh. Earlier it was a ''mahakuma'' (sub-division) under Mymensingh District, Mymensingh district. 2495.07 km2 of land was taken from Mymensingh District, Mymensingh district to fo ...

and also in

Sylhet District Sylhet District (), located in north-east Bangladesh, is one of the four districts in Sylhet Division, which contains Sylhet, the regional capital. History Sylhet District was established on 3 January 1782, and until 1878 it was part of Benga ...

. He served as Senior Assistant Commissioner, Metropolitan Magistrate, Upazilla Nirbahi Officer, Additional District Magistrate, Private Secretary to the Mayor, Chittagong City Corporation. He later served as the Deputy Commissioner and District Magistrate in

Faridpur District Faridpur District () is a district in south-central Bangladesh. It is a part of Dhaka Division. It is bounded by the Padma River to the northeast. The district was named for its headquarters, the city of Faridpur, Bangladesh, Faridpur, which its ...

from March 2009 to December 2012. He was also the managing director of

Bangladesh Overseas Employment and Services Limited Bangladesh Overseas Employment and Services Limited is a government owned manpower export company located in Dhaka, Bangladesh. As Bangladeshi unskilled workers go to work abroad, their family income doubles. In addition, two-thirds of Banglade ...

. Later, he served as

Divisional Commissioner A Divisional Commissioner, also known as Commissioner of division, is an Indian Administrative Service officer who serves as the administrator of a division of a state in India. The post is referred to as regional commissioner in Karnataka ...

Rajshahi Division Rajshahi Division () is one of the eight first-level administrative divisions of Bangladesh. It has an area of and a population at the 2022 Census of 20,353,119. Rajshahi Division consists of 8 districts, 70 upazilas (the next lower administrat ...

from 2013 to 2016 and then Divisional Commissioner of

Dhaka Division Dhaka Division () is an Divisions of Bangladesh, administrative division of Bangladesh. Dhaka serves as the capital city of Dhaka Division, the Dhaka District and Bangladesh. The division remains as a population magnet, and covers an area of 20, ...

from 2016 to 2017. The

Government of Bangladesh The government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh () is the central government of Bangladesh. The government was constituted by the Constitution of Bangladesh comprising the executive (the president, prime minister and cabinet), the ...

appointed him as the Secretary in charge of the Election Commission Secretariat on 30 July 2017 and he was promoted to

Secretary A secretary, administrative assistant, executive assistant, personal secretary, or other similar titles is an individual whose work consists of supporting management, including executives, using a variety of project management, program evalu ...

on 20 February 2018. On 26 May 2019 he was appointed as Secretary to the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Co-operatives of Bangladesh. Subsequently, he was promoted to the rank of Senior Secretary in January 2020. Ahmed was the president of the

Bangladesh Administrative Service The Bangladesh Administrative Service (BAS) is the premier civil service cadre of the Bangladesh Civil Service, and which formulates and executes the policies of the government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh of which it is an inseparable p ...

from 2019 to 2021. Ahmed was the secretary of the Election Commission of Bangladesh during the

2018 Bangladeshi general election General elections were held in Bangladesh on 30 December 2018 to elect 300 directly-elected members of the Jatiya Sangsad. The result was another landslide victory for the Awami League-led Grand Alliance (Bangladesh), Grand Alliance led by Sheik ...

. As the secretary, he allegedly received a remuneration of 4.7 million BDT, an abnormally high amount, for the role of ‘course consultant’. He also received sizable amount of fees for "special speeches" as "special speaker" at the training programs for the 11th national parliamentary election and the Upazila polls. In 2020 Forty-two eminent citizens requested

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Abdul Hamid ʻAbd al-Ḥamīd (ALA-LC romanization of ; ; ), also spelled as Abdulhamid, Abdelhamid, Abd-ul Hamid, and Abd ol-Hamid, is a Muslim male given name and, in modern usage, surname. It is a Muslim theophoric name built from the Arabic words '' ʻabd' ...

to constitute a Supreme Judicial Council inquiry into corruption allegations against the chief election commissioner and election commissioners on 19 December 2020, and declared the sending of a letter with details over a virtual conference. Ahmed went on a 10-day study tour in Europe using government money just one day before his retirement. Which is very unusual according to experts, who said, it was "unethical" and complete "waste" of money for the government. On 11 May 2023, Ahmed was appointed as a member of Bangladesh Public Service Commission by the President of Bangladesh for five years. He was arrested in Chittagong after the fall of the Sheikh Hasina led Awami League government.

Awards and recognition

* Best Divisional Commissioner's Award (2016) * Public Service Innovation Award (2016)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ahmed, Helal Uddin 1963 births Living people People from Cox's Bazar District 21st-century Bangladeshi civil servants