Taking part in the panel discussion, Dr Akbar Ali Khan, former secretary and director of Centre for Governance Studies of the Brac University, said Bangladesh has a serious problem relating to governance and there is a bad system where good people are not rewarded and bad people not punished.

"The system of governance will collapse if bad people are not punished and good people not rewarded. Such a system does not exist anywhere in the world," he said, adding that the poor people bear the brunt of such anarchy.

Power and Participation Research Centre (PPRC) organised the pre-launch seminar on 'Unbundling Governance: Toward an Annual Report on Governance in Bangladesh' in association with Manusher Jonno at LGED auditorium in the city, with Dr Kamal Uddin Siddiqui, principal secretary to the prime minister, in the chair.

Dr Kamal Uddin stressed the need for mobilising people to bring about a change in society, saying that things will not change unless this mobilisation takes place.

"I agree with Akbar Ali Khan that good people should be rewarded and bad people punished. But who is going to do that?" he questioned.

Prof Rehman Sobhan, chairman of the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), said there are studies highlighting that corruption is rife at the highest level and the corrupt people are not punished, with no instrumental outcome.

He urged the researchers to look beyond 'cultural' indicators (indicators that are used frequently).

Prof Wahiduddin Mahmud, former advisor to the caretaker government, said: "We have a very large bureaucracy in which there are layers after layers, which make things complicated."

Stressing the need for effective functioning of the institutions, he made a comparison between the democracy in Bangladesh and a matured one, saying that in matured democracy, the leaders are able to uphold the credibility of the institutions.

Dr Salehuddin Ahmed, governor of Bangladesh Bank, said most governance-related problems in the country would disappear if different regulatory bodies are made effective.

He also called for introducing e-governance to improve efficiency and reduce harassment to a great extent.

Political commitment is a must for successful reforms in governance, Christine I Wallich, country director of the World Bank, said, adding that access to information, education and connectivity are dominant factors for better governance.

Appreciating the government decision to discontinue Dhaka-New York flight of Bangladesh Biman, she said it gives a signal that Biman is now focusing on financial discipline.

David Wood, head of DFID in Bangladesh, said his organisation will continue its support for social movement so that human rights, gender and other activists can contribute to the development process.

"At the same time, we will support government-led reforms to improve governance and address corruption issues," he said. "And I believe that progress is possible in Bangladesh."

Hua Du, country director of Asian Development Bank, said it is essential to encourage the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and introduce e-governance in order to ensure transparency and accountability.

Citing the example of e-procurement, she said ADB has already initiated the process in some ADB-funded projects under several ministries.

Shaheen Anam, executive director of Manusher Jonno Foundation, said everybody is aware of the problems, now the people want to know the solutions.

She called for solution-centric approach of surveys and said these should be homegrown. The report on unbundling governance is an advocacy document, which will be used by the Manusher Jonno to develop its programmes as well as the programmes of its partner organisations.

Earlier, Dr Hossain Zillur Rahman, executive chairman of PPRC, gave a presentation on the report of 'Unbundling Governance'.

According to the survey, 81 percent of the respondents are concerned over price hike, 43 percent over poverty, 36 percent over corruption and 34 percent over unemployment.

On the other hand, around 67 percent of the respondents have less confidence in police, 43 percent in business class, 40 percent in government offices, 36 percent in political parties, 33 percent in politicians, 27 percent in the government-run media, 19 percent in local government, 16 percent in NGO, 16 percent in judiciary and 15 percent in civil society.

PPRC conducted the survey among 4,500 people in 64 villages, 30 rural towns, 10 district towns and two metropolitan cities this year.

Prof Imtiaz Ahmed of Dhaka University also took part in the panel discussion.