Dr. Forqan Uddin Ahmed :
Among the ministries and departments in the country, the Ministry of Housing and Public Works, LGED, Directorate of Health, WASA, Titas Gas, Water development Board, Roads and Highways Departments are the most criticized on various problems and issues. ACC has found evidence of corruption with unethical benefits in the name of bargaining, repeated changes in the design of construction work, use of substandard construction materials, non-acceptance of work as per tender conditions, embezzlement of money by issuing fake bills-vouchers in the name of repair or renovation work. The ACC team has identified the sources of corruption as the anonymous or close relatives of senior officers or influential persons, handling of contracting works, unwanted interference by influential persons and unethical favoring of contractors and engineers involved in project implementation. According to ACC, the tender process is not carried out in due process in this organization. In addition to large-scale works, the department has an allocation of crores of rupees for repair, renovation and maintenance. Against this allocation, the works are divided into small lots. The work order is issued through secret tenders instead of going to e-GP. They identified 10 areas of corruption in public works. At the same time, the organization highlighted 20 recommendations on October 20, 2019 to prevent these corruptions.
The Anti-Corruption Commission has found huge corruption and irregularities in every stage of projects of the Roads and Highways Department. The commission found that officials and constructors in most cases showed the space of road sides as holes and then embezzled money after allocation for filling up the holes. The commission found huge irregularities in the use of project vehicles and vehicles purchased without estimating the needs, the former acting commission secretary said, adding that irregularities in toll collection were also detected by the commission.
Now the picture of some irregularities and mismanagement in the health sector is highlighted and the sufferings are shown – for several years, the health system of Bangladesh has been in an uncomfortable and chaotic state due to the fluctuation of trust and distrust. Since March 2020, as the rampage of destruction has been going on in Corona, on the other hand, many naked aspects of the health system have been exposed. The cost of treatment at private hospitals or clinics is sky-high, and treatment there is beyond the means of many. Often the patient or his relatives complain about the death of the patient due to negligence or wrong treatment.
Poor embankment management and rampant corruption in projects have made the headlines many times and the authorities have repeatedly promised to address the issue. In 2017, at least eight Water Development Board engineers were suspended after flash floods breached poorly constructed dams, destroying paddy on 2.23 lakh hectares. But irregularities and corruption in the projects have continued unabated in the absence of regular monitoring and accountability of the agencies and people concerned. Fresh embankment projects are taken almost every year while irregularities and corruption delay the establishment or repairs of dams, thus frustrating the intended results. Similar irregularities have also been reported in river erosion management projects. Even though the government spends a huge amount of money, which appear to be less than what is required, the projects do not bring expected results because of poor implementation. The river erosion management programme that largely revolves around building embankments does not also serve its purpose as the embankments are poorly constructed and maintained. The embankments often fail to withstand water surge or sudden onrush of water. It has been reported how corruption in the construction and maintenance of embankments has defeated the purpose of erosion management plans.
This time, the mismanagement of the ticket sales of the railway department is the subject – the victims often complain that all the tickets are sold out as soon as the tickets are released online in the morning. It is now clear that one of the major reasons for this is the tickets getting into the hands of black marketeers. Due to a handful of such dishonest officials, the entire country has to suffer in collecting railway tickets. So there is no alternative to eradicate this black market cycle. Unhindered ticketing of any transport is a civil right of the people.It is the responsibility of the government to eliminate those who will stand in the way. The organization which is entrusted with the responsibility of selling tickets online should also ensure the integrity and competence of its employees. Or the related institutions will not be able to avoid the responsibility of such corruption. It is needless to say if the existing mismanagement in the railways is not removed, the anger and protest of the common people against the authorities will increase.
Irregularities of various departments and offices of the government are going to become the norm. The government has to take a strict role in remedying and redressing this situation. Otherwise achieving the SDG target will be a real challenge for us. We know that in all irregularities, mismanagement is the main source of corruption. So no compromise with corruption. Rather, the government has to undertake a strict and difficult task in establishing regularity. The activities of various corrupt departments and offices should be made dynamic and service-oriented through transparency and accountability.
(The writer is former Deputy Director General, Bangladesh Ansar & VDP).
