Dhaka: The government has appointed Additional Secretary Md Rafiqul Islam as the new chairman of Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC), concluding a period of frequent leadership changes at the helm of the state-owned petroleum agency. The Ministry of Public Administration issued a notification on Sunday to announce his appointment, reversing an earlier order that had transferred him to the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs.
According to United News of Bangladesh, Rafiqul Islam was previously serving as a Member of the Bangladesh Energy and Power Research Council (BEPRC) before taking on his new role. His appointment follows a series of leadership transitions at BPC that began earlier this year. On January 29, the government removed BPC Chairman Md Amin-ul-Ahsan. Subsequently, on February 1, Additional Secretary of the Energy and Mineral Resources Division Rafiqul Alam was given the additional charge as BPC chairman.
The transition continued the next day when Additional Secretary Md Rezanur Rahman, who had previously served as Petrobangla chairman, was appointed as BPC chairman. However, Rezanur Rahman was attached to the Ministry of Public Administration on July 26, after serving nearly six months.
After his departure, Additional Secretary Md Ziaul Huq was assigned the additional charge of BPC chairman on August 2. The position remained vacant for nearly a week until Additional Secretary Md Manzur Alam Pradhan was appointed as acting chairman on August 12.
With the appointment of Rafiqul Islam, BPC now has a full-time chairman, bringing stability after several months of interim and additional charge arrangements. Rafiqul Islam is a member of the 18th batch of the Bangladesh Civil Service (BCS). He earned his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Applied Chemistry and Chemical Engineering from Dhaka University and later completed an MPhil in Chemistry from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET).