ACCORDING to media reports, the Comptroller and Auditor General has disclosed 17 audit reports involving financial irregularities of Tk 6,195 crore, where the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission topped the wrong doing government agencies. In the past years, similar reports were made public but very few have been held accountable for their actions.
Several dailies reported that the CAG conducted special audits on the BTRC from 2001-2002 to 2009-2010 fiscal years revealed that the government lost Tk 2,628 crore in revenue because of several financial irregularities. Interestingly, the BTRC did not impose fines on Warid Telecom, which is now Airtel, despite irregularities in share transactions by the company that led to the government’s revenue loss, along with how in different cases, BTRC did not fine the illegal voice over internet protocol businesses and incurred revenue losses. The report also added that the BTRC failed to collect spectrum charges, licences fee and other charges as per its own rules. In another report, the CAG found the government lost Tk 880 crore in revenue because of several financial irregularities in Janata Bank and Rupali Bank during the fiscal year 2010-11. The report said the government lost the revenue as the banks granted loans without assessing risks, failed to recover mortgaged assets, created forced loans and rescheduled loans without down-payment. Similar cases were detected in other banks also. The report said the government lost the revenue as the banks failed to realise money from the consortium banks and funded unfinished projects without assessment.
While the reports on the financial irregularities in public offices was meant to throw light on the irresponsible behaviour of public authorities, it was also presented to the government by the CAG so that the government would take the audit reports into consideration and collect the money from the ones at fault. Millions are being looted by corrupt politicians as well as civil servants on a daily basis, and this shocking revelation shows that revenue is not just being looted but also being lost because of either irresponsible behaviour and collusion at worst. This should be a very loud wake up call for the government who merely claim to be on the path or right and justice but do not perform actions that show it. The country is in debt and taking foreign loans from various sources to fund its ADP, but if these ‘lost revenue’ could be salvaged, it would be far more financially stable. There should be a strong realisation as to this truth amongst the bureaucrats and politicians that they are only cheating the nation by their acts of corruption.
