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The corruption conundrum

A.N.M. Nurul Haque
THE National Household Survey on corruption 2007 by Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) was among the startling revelations in the past week. The survey covering the period between July 2006 and June 2007 tends to suggest that corruption remains as pervasive as it was earlier. The survey suggests that corruption in various utility service sectors has even increased despite the caretaker government's anticorruptiondrive.
The survey reveals that corruption in education, health, land administration, local government and in different utility services sectors increased in the first haff of 2007. In terms of magnitude, law enforcing agencies including the joint forces, Rab, and police were found to be the most corrupt, while land administration was found the most corrupt in terms of the amount of bribe that went into any sector.
The special courts set up in Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban complex to try the high profile corruption and extortion cases have so far jailed
110 persons, including politicians, government officials and businessmen, in many cases with their wives and children. l\vo former prime ministers, Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina are also facing charges of corruption and extortion.
But the TIB survey reveals that corruption in many cases has actually increased despite all these serious measures taken by the caretaker government, and the people of the country had to pay Tk 5,443 crore in bribes for different public and private sector services during the period.
According to the survey, 96.6 percent of the households experienced harassment and corruption while interacting with or receiving sendees from law enforcing agencies. Of them. 94 percent experienced harassment and corruption from police, 4.9 percent from the joint forces, and 8 percent from the Rab.
Each household paid Tk 10,927 on average in bribe to avoid arrest while Tk 3,983 and Tk 795 had to be paid for lodging a complaint and a
general diary respectively with police The amount of bribe paid by the people in the law enforcement sector during the survey period was estimated to beTk 879 crore.
According to the TIB's corruption database, ovcrTk 34,550 crore went down the drain from the public exchequer in six years since 2000. On the basis of 3,293 newspaper reports scanned during the year 2000, TIB said that the government had faced a loss of Tk 17,193 crore due to corruption. TIB came out with a staggering loss of Tk 11,296 crore in the year 2001 scanning 1,514 newspaper reports. The loss of ilie government was Tk 4,392 crore in 2002. It however, came down belowTk 1,000 crore in 2003 but increased to Tk 4,131 crore in 2004.
The army-led taskforce investigating corruption in different service sectors, has found over 150 supervisors and meter readers of the state-owned Titas gas who have become millionaires by tampering with bills, depriving the government of crores of taka in revenue income. The corrupt employees
have returned wealth worth Tk 400 crore, earned through corruption, to public exchequer.
The taskforce has also found massive corruption in Chittagong port, Rajuk, Wasa, Dcsa, and Dhaka City Corporation, where officials have amassed huge wealth through corruption. The other sectors that experienced massive corruption should also be brought under scrutiny by the taskforce. But the drives against corruption must not be the one-time actions, but a regular process.
The TIB findings that corrosive corruption eats away country's 3.84 percent of per capita income has come as a shocking revelation for the nation. Earlier, the World Bank estimated that Bangladesh losses two percent of its GDP growth to corruption.
Bribery followed by negligence of duties, embezzlement, deception, extortion and nepotism are the means and methods of corruption that occurs everyday around us. The stranger fact that the TIB survey has brought to light is that the over-enthusiastic pursuit of anti-corruption agenda by the caretaker government, has in fact increased corruption in many sectors instead of curbing it
In an apparent attempt to downplay the recent findings of the TIB about corruption, the finance adviser said that caretaker government's anti-corruption drive was aimed at cutting down corruption at top levels, not at lower levels and the government has achieved major success in it. Meanwhile, the government has decided to put on hold the anti-corruption drive against the corrupt bigwigs, listed by the ACC, before the national election.
An analytical expose of corrup tion clearly suggests that, it should be seen in the broader perspective of socio-economic conditions, on which much of its elimination depends. But this important side remains neglected.
The recent increase of corruption in different utility service sectors may be attributed to exorbitant gap of the cost of living and eroded real income that has forced many to indulge in corruption to make both their ends meet. Yes, the government has increased 20 percent pay of its employees to cope with the rising prices. Ironically, every instance of pay hike has invariably led to a rise in the prices of essentials, resulted to no remission of miseries of the employees.
Corruption is eating into the vitals of our society and distorting our national psyche. Admittedly, the endemic corruption that has developed through decades can-
not be rooted out overnight. The usual punitive measures have little to do in curbing corruption as the capital punishment have failed to deter killings.
I he government officials, except some with endless greed, indulge in corruption mainly for two reasons. The first one is a dream for a house and they are quite aware that having a house in the city is simply impossible with their meager saving and retirement benefits, unless huge money is made otherwise.
The second one is children's education, which is also placed high in the priority list. As the government institutions provide sub-standard education, the government officials prefer to send their children to expensive pnvate institutions which they cannot afford without indulging in corruption.
The government can find an easy solution to the problems by constructing flats for its officials and improving education standard in government institutions. Flats may be allotted on hire purchase basis to those officials who have completed 25 years of service with a clean record.
The people of this country will not have salvation from the curse of corruption unless the government brings about a change in the functioning of various service sectors with a view to establishing accountability mechanism and right to information.