Editorial
TIB corruption list
Time to act on the findings
A survey conducted by the Bangladesh chapter of the Transparency International has stated the obvious but with a renewed force: police and tax officials have jointly emerged at the top of the corruption list prepared on the basis of selected newspaper reports. After all, they are the ones on the frontline of public dealings, and to that extent, are perhaps most susceptible to wrong-doing.The picture of corruption given by the TIB is cause for concern as it has a crippling effect on our collective existence. The decision-makers should take note of the observation that the government functionaries are abusing discretionary powers that have been given to them for discharging their duties quickly and efficiently. The corrupt officials are actually using these powers for extorting money. It seems a parallel system of extortionism is operating in the government offices alongside the extortionism that professional criminals are thriving on in the private sector. The upshot of it all is far too obvious. First, the image of the country before the international community has been badly bruised. Foreign entrepreneurs complain of the high cost of doing business as do our own. It hardly needs saying that it will adversely affect the investment potential. Second, governance suffers when functionaries compete with each other, unknowingly though, for topping the corruption list. Third, the quality of the public service delivery falls when corruption overshadows things like strict adherence to rules and regulations. Fourth, the value system is bound to be destroyed when corruption becomes the order of the day. There is no doubt that unbridled corruption can cause incalculable damage to society. And the question of knocking down the monster of corruption arises for obvious reasons at this point of time. However, it is so well entrenched that the task of lessening its evil influence could be very difficult. There is a chain of corruption in government offices and in most cases it is a participatory and collusive process which cannot be neutralised by merely issuing official directives. What is needed here is a strong political will and determination to wipe out the menace. Of course, there must be a clear consensus among the political parties in this respect. Then some institutional reforms are needed to bolster the defence against corruption. An independent anti-corruption commission and an ombudsman's office, we believe, should go a long way to containing the evil.
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