Staff Reporter :
Rejecting Transparency International, Bangladesh’s corruption index which indicated that graft was rising in Bangladesh, Information Minister Hasan Mahmud on Wednesday said that the findings were “faulty, fictitious and politically motivated”.
The minister passed the remarks when he was replying to a query made
by journalists at the secretariat in the afternoon.
According to the TIB report unveiled on Tuesday, Bangladesh ranks second most corrupt country in South Asia wood 149 in the world, the 13th from the bottom.
In order from least to most corrupt, the standings are: Bhutan, India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.
‘The method the TIB followed in preparing the graft index was faulty. They didn’t make it clear which method they followed. That means their methodology was faulty,’ he said.
The minister said, “If there’s any specific allegation, I would like to request TIB to inform the government and the Anti-Corruption Commission. The government will take action.”
Responding to a question whether they will reject the report, he said, ‘Definitely… it’s a motivated report.’
Replying to a question the minister said, ‘The ACC has already demanded explanation from them over the report. I’ll also ask TIB to tell ACC on which information they made the report.’
He said that earlier TIB published another report ahead of the general election to implement BNP’s agenda. ‘There was 80 percent similarity of their report with the allegations raised by BNP. So, it’s clear that they want to implement the agenda of a specific political party.’
Hasan Mahmud said that TIB also raised voice there had been corruption in Padma Bridge project and then the World Bank stopped financing the project. But, the allegation was proved wrong later, he said.
Rejecting Transparency International, Bangladesh’s corruption index which indicated that graft was rising in Bangladesh, Information Minister Hasan Mahmud on Wednesday said that the findings were “faulty, fictitious and politically motivated”.
The minister passed the remarks when he was replying to a query made
by journalists at the secretariat in the afternoon.
According to the TIB report unveiled on Tuesday, Bangladesh ranks second most corrupt country in South Asia wood 149 in the world, the 13th from the bottom.
In order from least to most corrupt, the standings are: Bhutan, India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.
‘The method the TIB followed in preparing the graft index was faulty. They didn’t make it clear which method they followed. That means their methodology was faulty,’ he said.
The minister said, “If there’s any specific allegation, I would like to request TIB to inform the government and the Anti-Corruption Commission. The government will take action.”
Responding to a question whether they will reject the report, he said, ‘Definitely… it’s a motivated report.’
Replying to a question the minister said, ‘The ACC has already demanded explanation from them over the report. I’ll also ask TIB to tell ACC on which information they made the report.’
He said that earlier TIB published another report ahead of the general election to implement BNP’s agenda. ‘There was 80 percent similarity of their report with the allegations raised by BNP. So, it’s clear that they want to implement the agenda of a specific political party.’
Hasan Mahmud said that TIB also raised voice there had been corruption in Padma Bridge project and then the World Bank stopped financing the project. But, the allegation was proved wrong later, he said.
The World Bank filed a case with the court of Canada where it was defeated, he said adding, ‘We thought TIB would seek mercy from the nation after their defeat, but they didn’t,’ said the minister.
‘Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has announced zero tolerance against corruption. When Bangladesh is being praised globally and by the World Bank for curbing corruption at that moment TIB has published a faulty report to defame the country’s regulation abroad.’
