Editorial Desk :
Read any newspaper and you will find corruption is now held as mainly responsible for mismanagement in the public sector. Every aspect of the government has been infected by incompetence, unaccountability and above all by unmitigated corruption. The budget is bad for all the bad things done by all in the government. Money has been plundered and much of it kept outside the country.
Now there is nothing left for a popular budget to be placed. Money is not there for public welfare to consider. All the avenues have to be explored for extracting money. Miseries to the people have never been a consideration. But now the people’s backs are against the wall and that is what is behind all the anger thrown against the Finance Minister. The members of the Parliament can see dangers at this late hours.
The all government and no opposition parliament has suddenly woke up to become noisy and blistering in criticising the lame duck Finance Minister for the loopholes in the budget and its unpopularity.
Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith, as a respectable man, was not so respectable in not resigning much earlier. He himself was not corrupt but to retain his job as a Minister he was most servile in tolerating crimes against the country’s economy committed by the men in power.
He could not stop stealing people’s money from the banks. He defended all the bank looting saying bravely that even Tk 4,000 crore was not big enough to worry. Under him stock market collapsed for the manipulation of the few who made big money and remained safe.
When the foreign reserve amounting $101 million was hacked and taken out Mr Muhith felt no sense of guilt because the Prime Minister defended the governor of Bangladesh Bank as hero for the services he rendered. Though any other honourable man in his position would have resigned then and there. But his life long love for government job prevented him from doing the right thing at the right time.
There was a high level enquiry into the hacking of Bangladesh Bank and the loss of foreign exchange. The report was not published by him to protect the government. The small amount that is available in Philippines could not be secured. He appeared just powerful not to publish the enquiry report on the hacking of Bangladesh Bank.
Super wise advisers are the think-tank of the Prime Minister. But they are above criticism though they are the driving force of the government. It is they who put the idea of democracy of development. Borrowed from their experience of Ayub Khan’s decade of development. Mega projects were taken up to exhibit mega development. Huge sums of money had to be allocated for the projects ignoring the needs of the poor. More money was sanctioned for the projects so undertaken but not completed. All these projects have been distributed among the government supporters.
Now the World Bank has given a study report to show how the cost of building highways has exceeded all reasonable limits. The bank pointed out that whereas in India or China cost of a four-lane, one kilometer highway was Tk 13 lakhs, in Bangladesh it was more than a crore taka.
As regards soaring of corruption the Finance Minister was ready to offer a justification. According to him corruption has also gone up because of increased prosperity of the country.
Though Mr Muhith as the Finance Minister was presiding over a destructive economy and he bluffed the nation about the true state of the economy yet we find it unjust that he should go alone in the hope of saving the real culprits who benefitted from the economic misdeeds. He just collaborated with them.
Read any newspaper and you will find corruption is now held as mainly responsible for mismanagement in the public sector. Every aspect of the government has been infected by incompetence, unaccountability and above all by unmitigated corruption. The budget is bad for all the bad things done by all in the government. Money has been plundered and much of it kept outside the country.
Now there is nothing left for a popular budget to be placed. Money is not there for public welfare to consider. All the avenues have to be explored for extracting money. Miseries to the people have never been a consideration. But now the people’s backs are against the wall and that is what is behind all the anger thrown against the Finance Minister. The members of the Parliament can see dangers at this late hours.
The all government and no opposition parliament has suddenly woke up to become noisy and blistering in criticising the lame duck Finance Minister for the loopholes in the budget and its unpopularity.
Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith, as a respectable man, was not so respectable in not resigning much earlier. He himself was not corrupt but to retain his job as a Minister he was most servile in tolerating crimes against the country’s economy committed by the men in power.
He could not stop stealing people’s money from the banks. He defended all the bank looting saying bravely that even Tk 4,000 crore was not big enough to worry. Under him stock market collapsed for the manipulation of the few who made big money and remained safe.
When the foreign reserve amounting $101 million was hacked and taken out Mr Muhith felt no sense of guilt because the Prime Minister defended the governor of Bangladesh Bank as hero for the services he rendered. Though any other honourable man in his position would have resigned then and there. But his life long love for government job prevented him from doing the right thing at the right time.
There was a high level enquiry into the hacking of Bangladesh Bank and the loss of foreign exchange. The report was not published by him to protect the government. The small amount that is available in Philippines could not be secured. He appeared just powerful not to publish the enquiry report on the hacking of Bangladesh Bank.
Super wise advisers are the think-tank of the Prime Minister. But they are above criticism though they are the driving force of the government. It is they who put the idea of democracy of development. Borrowed from their experience of Ayub Khan’s decade of development. Mega projects were taken up to exhibit mega development. Huge sums of money had to be allocated for the projects ignoring the needs of the poor. More money was sanctioned for the projects so undertaken but not completed. All these projects have been distributed among the government supporters.
Now the World Bank has given a study report to show how the cost of building highways has exceeded all reasonable limits. The bank pointed out that whereas in India or China cost of a four-lane, one kilometer highway was Tk 13 lakhs, in Bangladesh it was more than a crore taka.
As regards soaring of corruption the Finance Minister was ready to offer a justification. According to him corruption has also gone up because of increased prosperity of the country.
Though Mr Muhith as the Finance Minister was presiding over a destructive economy and he bluffed the nation about the true state of the economy yet we find it unjust that he should go alone in the hope of saving the real culprits who benefitted from the economic misdeeds. He just collaborated with them.
