The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has conducted an inquiry at the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Division over alleged irregularities in a government project aimed at developing 16 software and applications under the Bengali Language Enrichment Initiative. The project involves a budget of nearly Tk 158 crore.

According to a press release issued by the ACC on Monday, July 7, officials reviewed various project documents, including the RDPP (Revised Development Project Proposal) and IMED inspection reports. The team found that out of 45 total packages under the project, 16 were allocated for developing software and apps such as a semantic search engine, Bengali OCR, spell checker, translator, and several AI-based tools. The project’s deadline has already been extended twice and is now set to run until 2026.

Despite following the OTM-QCBS method for hiring consultants in software development, the ACC team observed that initial work orders had been issued to a single organization for multiple packages—raising concerns over fairness and transparency.

The team is currently analyzing collected records and will submit a detailed report to the Commission for further action.