Recently, a senior official in the Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation was convicted for having embezzled public funds worth almost Tk7.50 crore.
Though the justice system should be congratulated for putting such an individual behind bars, this speaks of a bigger problem within our government.
This is just one government official among many who have been leeching the hard-working citizens of this country dry.
Our government is plagued with too many corrupt individuals who have no intention of doing their jobs, let alone working for the public good.
Is it any surprise, then, that so many government-run organisations continue to make losses?
Is it any wonder that sectors such as state-owned banks and Biman, among others, urgently need to be privatised, as they continue to lay waste to public funds?
But, in the long run, more will need to be done.
It is regrettable that in a country such as ours, where there are people struggling to feed themselves, where we are forced to ask international organisations for loans to fight climate change and develop, so much of our public money finds itself in the pockets of corrupt men and women.
No longer can this be allowed to stand.
Our country is already burdened by excessive bureaucracy. But with Bangladesh being consistently ranked as one of the most corrupt nations in the world, it will be difficult to achieve all of our development goals in the foreseeable future.
For things to change, corruption needs to be rooted out of the system so that public funds are no longer used to subsidise loss-making sectors.
As we move forward, we need to ensure that public money is being spent efficiently and effectively.
