Corruption eating into the vitals
WHILE addressing the AL Parliamentary Party meeting on July 22 Prime Minister Sk. Hasina said that she would take stern action if any lawmaker or minister was involved in corruption. Evidently the prime minister issued this warning in the backdrop of the reports of bungling and misappropriation of food grains allocated for test relief and food for work programs.
The P.M.'s warning was reinforced by the report published in a Bangla daily on July 26 that indicated that while implementing the "one house, one farm" program in Bamna village in Barguna, 12 members of an affluent family had been included in the list.
Roushanara Akhtar, a field worker of BRDB, admitted that she had to include those names under political pressure. Strangely enough, the report says that Sanjib Bepary, the owner of Sanjib grocery stores, has been included in the list, but his neighbour, Shishu Bala, an old widowed and distressed person, despite her entreaties, could not get her name in the list.
The list further revealed that one Asaduzzaman, a lecturer in Bamna Degree College and one Shukur Sikdar, a Chatra League worker in Amtali, got themselves included in the list twice by changing their names. Chairman BRDB and Director Project Implementation Bureau admitted the widespread irregularities in preparing the list.
Golam Sabur Tulu, AL M.P. Barguna-2 constituency, expressed his ignorance about the list of ineligible people and indicated that he would recommend deterrent measures against the culprits.
While issuing directives to the D.C.s about monitoring militant activities and arresting price hike of essentials, the P.M. could have issued directives to the D.C.s to combat corruption. There is paramount need for improving governance, and fixing up infra-structure and regulatory frameworks to achieve pro-people growth and development.
The big talk in the country is endemic corruption in the corridors of power and business. We are forced to talk about it mostly in generic terms, which is why we are no longer shocked by the unspeakable corruption of our officials and politicians.
How rotten the system is becomes clear when a person agrees to speak in more specific terms on condition of absolute anonymity. I met such a person recently, who said that everyone was on the take at every level of government.
No sooner had he finished the construction of his house than an official of the tax department said that he was ready to negotiate the amount of tax the homeowner was obliged to pay, but for a price. The tax on the house should be at least Tk.60,000, but if the owner gave him Tk.30,000 he could ensure that the tax would be Tk.30,000.
A building contractor, who recently won a Tk.10 lakh contract by keeping other parties off the bidding through a settlement of Tk.2 lakh, told me that at the time of receiving the final bill he had to give Tk.1 lakh to the officials. He said that he would make a profit of Tk. 2 lakh. That only speaks of the quality of work he would deliver!
The education sector is the latest victim of corruption. What distinguishes some premier colleges and public universities in the country is their drive to give students the type of education that goes beyond textbooks, classroom lectures, and considerations of politics and party. But they are shedding their image as prime suppliers of talent in different services of the country because recruitment of college teachers is manipulated by a syndicate involving the Public Service Commission (PSC).
PSC administrative officer M.A. Rouf, implicated in the question leakage scam of B.G. Press, confessed that a syndicate involving Public Service Commission officials
manipulated the appointment of teachers in government colleges in 2005. Teachers were either appointed or promoted to higher posts against fake certificates in exchange of money. It is not the criminality that is astonishing but the fact that they compromised the entire political class during the BNP- led alliance regime.
The series of reports published in a section of the press during the last two months sent a chill down the nation's spine. Colleges now have to admit students not on merit but on the recommendation of the leaders of Chatra League who collect a big sum of money from these ineligible candidates.
What is more ominous is that the perpetrators seemed to have a large measure of administrative sanction. Reports of otherwise respectable and learned teachers participating in such a filthy game are a chilling warning of the breakdown of moral fabric, social values and national aspiration.
Obviously, corruption has been institutionalised. Not reining in such scams is a political blunder. And in the aftermath of such reports being published, the question of whether the government connived in such alleged scams has acquired importance.
Another interesting aspect of such stories relate to how long and complicated it still is to do anything in this country, like expanding business activities, erecting a factory, importing machinery and releasing goods from the port. A businessman told me that it took more than three years to build a factory, and at every stage there was someone's pocket to be lined.
It's not that some new bacillus is loose today; corruption is no worse now than it's ever been. Whenever there is too much concentrated power and too little accountability, there is plunder and payoffs. What is different today -- and will become even more noticeable in the days to come -- is the worldwide effort to do something about it.
Around the globe there is an overwhelming urge to purge. Newly democratising populaces are getting tired of being exploited by their public servants. As more countries are reforming or undergoing economic change angry citizens are flushing out the mucky residue of old regimes that dragged them down. Democracy and free trade, of course, don't automatically translate into probity.
Governments that pay their way to power usually focus on recouping their huge campaign investments through corruption. Corruption generally gets out of control when citizens of a society find that there's more to gain than lose by permitting it. However, in the long run, the rise of democratic systems is the best hope for combating corruption.
But the fact is that as long as it takes an average of 20 years for a corruption case to come to court, we can be sure corruption will continue to flourish. The slow judicial process is the main reason why corrupt officials and politicians simply disappear instead of being brought to justice.
Corruption is not just a moral problem. Economists and international organisations point out the serious damage that corruption can do to economic growth and prosperity. International investment is the lifeblood of many economies, and because information travels so quickly these days, reputations can be made and destroyed on a single headline in the newspaper. Recent studies suggest that no nation can expect to become an advanced, high-income economy without attacking its corruption problem. Graft and poverty go hand in hand.
The P.M.'s warning was reinforced by the report published in a Bangla daily on July 26 that indicated that while implementing the "one house, one farm" program in Bamna village in Barguna, 12 members of an affluent family had been included in the list.
Roushanara Akhtar, a field worker of BRDB, admitted that she had to include those names under political pressure. Strangely enough, the report says that Sanjib Bepary, the owner of Sanjib grocery stores, has been included in the list, but his neighbour, Shishu Bala, an old widowed and distressed person, despite her entreaties, could not get her name in the list.
The list further revealed that one Asaduzzaman, a lecturer in Bamna Degree College and one Shukur Sikdar, a Chatra League worker in Amtali, got themselves included in the list twice by changing their names. Chairman BRDB and Director Project Implementation Bureau admitted the widespread irregularities in preparing the list.
Golam Sabur Tulu, AL M.P. Barguna-2 constituency, expressed his ignorance about the list of ineligible people and indicated that he would recommend deterrent measures against the culprits.
While issuing directives to the D.C.s about monitoring militant activities and arresting price hike of essentials, the P.M. could have issued directives to the D.C.s to combat corruption. There is paramount need for improving governance, and fixing up infra-structure and regulatory frameworks to achieve pro-people growth and development.
The big talk in the country is endemic corruption in the corridors of power and business. We are forced to talk about it mostly in generic terms, which is why we are no longer shocked by the unspeakable corruption of our officials and politicians.
How rotten the system is becomes clear when a person agrees to speak in more specific terms on condition of absolute anonymity. I met such a person recently, who said that everyone was on the take at every level of government.
No sooner had he finished the construction of his house than an official of the tax department said that he was ready to negotiate the amount of tax the homeowner was obliged to pay, but for a price. The tax on the house should be at least Tk.60,000, but if the owner gave him Tk.30,000 he could ensure that the tax would be Tk.30,000.
A building contractor, who recently won a Tk.10 lakh contract by keeping other parties off the bidding through a settlement of Tk.2 lakh, told me that at the time of receiving the final bill he had to give Tk.1 lakh to the officials. He said that he would make a profit of Tk. 2 lakh. That only speaks of the quality of work he would deliver!
The education sector is the latest victim of corruption. What distinguishes some premier colleges and public universities in the country is their drive to give students the type of education that goes beyond textbooks, classroom lectures, and considerations of politics and party. But they are shedding their image as prime suppliers of talent in different services of the country because recruitment of college teachers is manipulated by a syndicate involving the Public Service Commission (PSC).
PSC administrative officer M.A. Rouf, implicated in the question leakage scam of B.G. Press, confessed that a syndicate involving Public Service Commission officials
manipulated the appointment of teachers in government colleges in 2005. Teachers were either appointed or promoted to higher posts against fake certificates in exchange of money. It is not the criminality that is astonishing but the fact that they compromised the entire political class during the BNP- led alliance regime.
The series of reports published in a section of the press during the last two months sent a chill down the nation's spine. Colleges now have to admit students not on merit but on the recommendation of the leaders of Chatra League who collect a big sum of money from these ineligible candidates.
What is more ominous is that the perpetrators seemed to have a large measure of administrative sanction. Reports of otherwise respectable and learned teachers participating in such a filthy game are a chilling warning of the breakdown of moral fabric, social values and national aspiration.
Obviously, corruption has been institutionalised. Not reining in such scams is a political blunder. And in the aftermath of such reports being published, the question of whether the government connived in such alleged scams has acquired importance.
Another interesting aspect of such stories relate to how long and complicated it still is to do anything in this country, like expanding business activities, erecting a factory, importing machinery and releasing goods from the port. A businessman told me that it took more than three years to build a factory, and at every stage there was someone's pocket to be lined.
It's not that some new bacillus is loose today; corruption is no worse now than it's ever been. Whenever there is too much concentrated power and too little accountability, there is plunder and payoffs. What is different today -- and will become even more noticeable in the days to come -- is the worldwide effort to do something about it.
Around the globe there is an overwhelming urge to purge. Newly democratising populaces are getting tired of being exploited by their public servants. As more countries are reforming or undergoing economic change angry citizens are flushing out the mucky residue of old regimes that dragged them down. Democracy and free trade, of course, don't automatically translate into probity.
Governments that pay their way to power usually focus on recouping their huge campaign investments through corruption. Corruption generally gets out of control when citizens of a society find that there's more to gain than lose by permitting it. However, in the long run, the rise of democratic systems is the best hope for combating corruption.
But the fact is that as long as it takes an average of 20 years for a corruption case to come to court, we can be sure corruption will continue to flourish. The slow judicial process is the main reason why corrupt officials and politicians simply disappear instead of being brought to justice.
Corruption is not just a moral problem. Economists and international organisations point out the serious damage that corruption can do to economic growth and prosperity. International investment is the lifeblood of many economies, and because information travels so quickly these days, reputations can be made and destroyed on a single headline in the newspaper. Recent studies suggest that no nation can expect to become an advanced, high-income economy without attacking its corruption problem. Graft and poverty go hand in hand.
Md. Asadullah Khan is a former teacher of physics and Controller of Examinations, BUET. E-mail: aukhanbd@gmail.com
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