They relished an improved diet and got soap to wash their clothes, which they rarely got earlier.

The orphanage was spruced up for the minister's visit on Friday.

But Social Welfare Minister Ali Ahsan Muhammad Mujahid knew all these were to present a good atmosphere during his morning visit. The minister guessed mismanagement and corruption.

He talked to many of the orphans one by one. They told him the truth. Big ruhi fishes in the kitchen, fine rice and vegetables were arranged only to show the minister.

They told him in presence of the Deputy Commissioner, the Police Superintendent and accompanying journalists that the dirty dining room and the kitchen were cleaned only the day before.

But everything could not be cleaned. As he went round, the minister found the bathrooms not usable, and blankets and pillows of inmates very dirty and emitting stench.

He found that the big TV set of the orphanage was adding to the beauty of the superintendent's quarter.

There is a government directive for giving proper education to inmates of government orphanages. But to the surprise of all the visitors, many of the inmates could not even read the names of the president and the prime minister of Bangladesh.

Superintendent Shafiqul Islam chowdhury showed the minister a list of 98 orphans. But even on that special day, only 60 were present.

There was no satisfactory reply about absence of the rest 38 and the government funds provided for their food, maintenance and education.

The visitors left disappointed.