By spending as little as Tk200 anyone seeking to get preferential treatment on the road can purchase a sticker that is supposed to be used exclusively for the cars of the members of parliament.
Sources allege that for a couple of years, a section of parliament officials have been selling these fabricated stickers containing the emblem of the Jatiya Sangsad and “parliament member” written under it.
According to the sources inside the parliament, these dishonest staffs are also involved in printing paper pads and business cards for lawmakers, as the official printing process is “time-consuming.”
Officials at the parliament’s printing and publication department told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday that this group of unscrupulous employees had already sold several thousand car stickers for MPs since the start of the 10th parliament.
Those who use these exclusive stickers on their vehicles can avail special privilege on the road, as they often do not need to pay tolls to cross bridges or ferries, and also manage to get away with violating traffic rules. Vehicles that have the stickers are also allowed to enter Secretariat premises, which could be a security threat.
The original car plaques for MPs are small and made of metal, these fabricated stickers are larger in size and printed on paper and laminated that can be stuck on the front or rear windshield of a car.
Many lawmakers reportedly purchase these duplicate stickers – besides their original metal plaques – and give them to their relatives for using on their vehicles.
Recently, authorities of the Dhaka Cantonment requested the parliament secretariat to supply samples of the authenticated plaques for lawmakers, as numerous vehicles carrying fake paper stickers were gaining entry into the cantonment.
Iqbalur Rahim, one of the whips of parliament, admitted that he had seen some of his colleagues from the ninth parliament collecting additional stickers from parliament and using those for their relatives’ cars.
A senior official of parliament, seeking anonymity, said he had recently experienced preferential treatment while riding a colleague’s car – that had a special sticker for parliament members – to travel to a northern district.
“The authority of Bangabandhu Bridge let us go without toll and we also experienced VIP treatment on the highway,” the official told the Dhaka Tribune.
He added: “We heard that some rent-a-car businesses in Mohammadpur area also use these stickers.”
This reporter was able to collect such a sticker for just Tk200 from a staff of
the printing and publication department of the parliament.
Following a brief meeting yesterday, Mrinal Kanti Mondol, a data entry supervisor of the parliament, provided the reporter with the sticker made exclusively for lawmakers’ use.
However, when the reporter disclosed his identity, Mrinal initially claimed that he was not attached to this job, but later said he kept some stickers in his office as he was always trying to assist lawmakers.
“Parliament members’ staffs usually come to me and I always help them, and maybe it is my fault in trying to help them,” Mrinal said.
Sources said Mrinal was previously a contractor for printing work, who later joined as an employee of the parliament. He was part of a group who printed the fabricated stickers from the
capital’s Katabon area, top-level sources claimed, adding that some members of the group also worked in the speaker’s office.
When asked about the issue, Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury said: “It will not be tolerated by any means. We will terminate all the officials who are connected with this process.”
Whip Iqbalur Rahim, meanwhile, said: “These people are damaging the image of parliament and we need to take action against him [Mrinal] and try to find out the faults of the process as well.”