RECENTLY, the Anti-Corruption Commission has inspected several offices of Bangladesh Road Transport Authority and explored prevailing corruption. The move came just three days after the Road Transport and Bridges Ministry vowed its determination to make the BRTA a corruption-free organisation. What’s surprising is that such drive, waged by the anti-graft body in different times and places, failed to bring corruption under control.
Newspapers reported that, the ACC conducted surprise drives at the BRTA offices upon receiving complaints through its hotline. The ACC found irregularities in issuing fitness certificates, driving licences and registrations. During the drive, BRTA mobile court punished a broker at Ekuria office in Dhaka. The ACC even did not find any BRTA official at their workplace in Pabna. The Commission advised for complete automation and digitization in service delivery of BRTA. Another government institution under the same Ministry, BRTC, has already been embraced by corruption from purchasing buses to maintenance of the vehicles. The brand new trucks and buses become poor and rickety within a few days of their arrival.
In another drive, ACC Chairman Iqbal Mahmud made a sudden visit to six primary and high schools in Chattogram on Monday and found most of the teachers absent. While visiting Kattoli Nurul Haque Chowdhury Primary School in the Port City around 9:00am, the ACC Chief found that the acting headmaster only attended the school while seven other teachers remained absent and the students were spending idle time on the school premises. ACC Chief made the visit to schools after getting allegations that most of the teachers do not attend schools regularly. Earlier, the ACC found 92 doctors out of total 230 absent at their workplaces in 11 government hospitals and health complexes in eight districts including Dhaka on January 21. The doctors were absent because they were busy elsewhere with their private practice.
It’s appreciating that, ACC finally started physical move in different organizations, including BRTA, schools and hospitals. While corruption is spreading like cancer in the public and private sectors; at that time we expect that ACC would also conduct drives against the big fishes, not only against the small fries.
