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Corruption — a Legacy of the Past Regime yet to be Banished

by M T Haq
WHAT Is really needed is to Increase the level of efficiency, competence, honesty and dis clpllne in every sphere of the society In Bangladesh all along the line. The great question mark, however, remains — how to achieve, rather how to start to achieve al) these in a society as ft Is tn Bangladesh at present. In this article I wish to restrict myself to only one aspect. that Is. the corruption from the top to the bottom (or from the bottom to the top) that has been plaguing the significant part rather the most of the society in Bangladesh for many years. This widespread corruption demands raising the level of honesty among the persons who accept bribes and also among the people who pay these. Both parties are equally or unequally responsible for these criminal acts and must recognize their economic, social and political demoralization and raise their level of honesty by refraining from such acts corruption.
I am not trying to say that corruption tn any form prevails in Bangladesh only. In my ca-* parity as a United Nations (UNIDO) Industrial Adviser. 1 visited and lived in almost all the countries which are members of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific Region. Corruption is rampant in other developing or least developed countries also. Bangladesh Is. however, the largest least developed country, according to the United Nations definition, and is one of the poorest countries of the world. The country is very poor In terms of both domestic and foreign resources compared with other developing countries and is naturally affected more by this kind of corruption than other countries which are not as densely
populated as Bangladesh and are not so resource-scarce.
It Is perhaps true that in no other country of the world so many people live In so small an area. Bangladesh is often wrongly compared with other countries of South-East Asia which have grown so rapidly In the economic field. To prove my point let me give an ex ample from a country which is almost our neighbour, namely. Thailand. Thailand is not a terribly rich country, though It has grown so rapidly during the span of some 30 years or so and is several times richer than Bangladesh In terms of per capita Income..! am net going into the factors which have brought about the rapid economic growth of Thailand, but then ft is not fair to compare Bangladesh with Thailand because Thailand Is about 4 to 5 limes larger than Bangladesh and is very rich In agricultural and Industrial resources, but the population of Thailand Is only about half that of Bangladesh. But even then we have a lot to learn from the rapid economic development of Thailand and other South-East Asian countries
Now 1 wish to come to the point — corruption. Although corruption prevails also tn other South-East Aslan coun tries, both extensively and intensively. these countries arc not so much affected by corruption as Bangladesh because the resources of the former are plentiful in relation to their size and population, whereas the resources in Bangladesh arc extremely llm-
Ited tn relation to its vast population. If a significant proportion of Its limited resources from internal and external sources arc misappropriated. Its development programme will be greatly handicapped and will not be Impkmentcd
What follows, however, tn this write-up is not mainly concerned with the big antisocial and criminal cases of corruption or fraud, but Is concerned with the small cases of corruption which affect the day to day life of the citizens. This write-up is in the nature of a case-study of Instances which have affected the writer personally and Is typical of numerous cases like
In this connection I read and article written by Shah A M S Kfbria which was recently published In The Dally Star where he has bluntly stated that nothing can be got done In Bangladesh without kick-backs. He has been writing in The Ddlly Star using his varied experience in the different economic, social and political aspects of Bangladesh, some of which can be utilized for set ting In order the corrupt and chaotic situations In Bangladesh, left by the autocratic Ershad regime as lega cies
1 must be more specific about the nature of corruption that prevails In every sphere of the society In Bangladesh. Long before my retirement from ihc United Nations we had a mod-
est but comfortable three floor house at Pnllabt. Dhaka where we used to stay during the home-leave. During our stay away from the country the caretakers experienced so many difficulties in maintain ing this house. After my retirement when we came to Dhaka to live here we also experienced difficulties in every field. I am mentioning the difficulties in various respects after we returned to DhakA to-wards the end of 1984.
(1) Take the case of the pay ment of the municipal tax. I am a retired official and naturally I had to get things done through my caretakers. The annual valuation of the house was never done properly The fixation of the annual tax was done arbitrarily and for this thing kickbacks had to be paid to the concerned employees of the Municipality office. I be lieve this is shared by all employees — from the lowest to the highest officials. It would not have mattered even if I went to (he office myself because I would not usually disclose my identity to them. Even If I did this, it would not have mattered. There Is not much sense of decency in Bangladesh.
(2) Take the case of the electricity bills. In 1990, to give an example, the monthly payments for electricity consumption which 1 paid to the Sonali
Bank. Mlrpur Section 12 branch, were not credited. I have receipts and made complaints to the bank, but I have not yet heard of any action taken. It Is uni versally known that the electric meters are ma nlpulated by bribing the meter readers and thts Is one of the reasons which have contributed to the a system foes In this (3) Coming to gas I was given a meter for the consumption of gas a few years back, which suddenly went out of order The meter was returned to the gas office and the direct gas connection was given, but quite a good sum of money had to be given to the concerned gas office employees by the caretaker of my house
(4) Taking the case of the urban property tax. the caretaker of my house had to give money' to the tax people. The act was probably kept tn abeyance during the time of Hussain Muhammad Ershad and the tax system has been revived now.
(5) The same sort of dishonest practices prevail In WASA and the Telephone organizations. I have a digital telephone which used to work well when It was first Installed, but I am getting most unsatisfactory service from it now. It is tampered with and often I get wrong connections. One had to be very lucky to get any response
from numbers 17 and IS
1 referred to a few areas or departments In this respect, but this corruption is sU per vadtng and elsewhere commM-
Thls’kvid oMLu^of^Xfo funds happened during the Ershad regime and has really crippled the country's even omy which it in a shambles now It is a sad commentary that persons tn the institutions which are the agents of economic growth were involved in fund/1™* °f k00"* °f P“W*
What actually might have happened was something tike this
The top bank executives and the business groups were In collusion with one another In which the politicians were also Involved Investigations would probably show that the loans which were given in the name of development projects were not all and properly utilized for those purposes II might be that it was used for imports which were profitable or used to earn foreign currencies abroad. This was one of the ways through which the economy of Bangladesh was ruined. It would be most appropriate for the present democratic government to detect some big cases of this type and gtve (he culprits the punishment they deserve for Ihctr anti-social activities. In a country like China, with which we have a great friendship, such offenders. If any. are very severely dealt with
Dr M T llaq is former Pro fessor of Economics. Rq/shahi University and retired Senior Industrial Adviser of the United Nations
(To be concluded tomorrow)