UNB, Chittagong :
Chairman of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) Iqbal Mahmood here on Wednesday said a section of government officials is engaged in widespread corruption while some of them have turned into ‘predators’ from protectors.
“This is true that many government officials are contributing to the country’s development through their services without resorting to corruption. But, there’re graft allegations against some officials, which tarnishes the image of the public officials,” he said.
The ACC chief was addressing a discussion titled ‘corruption-free public services and the nature of graft allegations’ at the conference room of the deputy commissioner’s office.
That is why thousands of people are placing their allegations against government officials to the Commission’s compliant centre dialling its hotline 106, Mahmood said.
Stressing the need for bringing a change in the public service delivery to reach it to people’s doorsteps, he asked the government officials to identify problems first in the service delivery and then go for solutions. “If you (officials) can identify the problems, half of them will be solved automatically.”
About the internal corruption of the Commission, the ACC chairman said, “We’ve taken harsher steps to make the Commission free from corruption. Already, we’ve sent some ACC officials to other public departments and probes continued against our 15 officials.”
Issuing a warning to the public officials, he said the Commission does not want to file cases against anyone, but it is compelled to file cases against graft suspects.
“If someone is sued by the ACC, he or she must suffer a lot because the graft cases work like cancer…it tarnishes image, dignity and fame of people and destroys their families,” he added.
Mahmood said the national anti-graft agency arrested about 550 graft suspects in the last one year aiming to give a message to the corrupt people that nobody is above the law.
At the discussion, ACC Director General Dr Shamsul Arefin gave an overview of the nature of the graft allegations submitted to the Commission by plaintiffs.
Senior officials of different public agencies and departments were present.
Chairman of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) Iqbal Mahmood here on Wednesday said a section of government officials is engaged in widespread corruption while some of them have turned into ‘predators’ from protectors.
“This is true that many government officials are contributing to the country’s development through their services without resorting to corruption. But, there’re graft allegations against some officials, which tarnishes the image of the public officials,” he said.
The ACC chief was addressing a discussion titled ‘corruption-free public services and the nature of graft allegations’ at the conference room of the deputy commissioner’s office.
That is why thousands of people are placing their allegations against government officials to the Commission’s compliant centre dialling its hotline 106, Mahmood said.
Stressing the need for bringing a change in the public service delivery to reach it to people’s doorsteps, he asked the government officials to identify problems first in the service delivery and then go for solutions. “If you (officials) can identify the problems, half of them will be solved automatically.”
About the internal corruption of the Commission, the ACC chairman said, “We’ve taken harsher steps to make the Commission free from corruption. Already, we’ve sent some ACC officials to other public departments and probes continued against our 15 officials.”
Issuing a warning to the public officials, he said the Commission does not want to file cases against anyone, but it is compelled to file cases against graft suspects.
“If someone is sued by the ACC, he or she must suffer a lot because the graft cases work like cancer…it tarnishes image, dignity and fame of people and destroys their families,” he added.
Mahmood said the national anti-graft agency arrested about 550 graft suspects in the last one year aiming to give a message to the corrupt people that nobody is above the law.
At the discussion, ACC Director General Dr Shamsul Arefin gave an overview of the nature of the graft allegations submitted to the Commission by plaintiffs.
Senior officials of different public agencies and departments were present.
