One of the fundamental issues with our governance has always been deep-seated corruption at practically every rank of our administrative hierarchy.
The Bailey Road fire late last month was, after all, a direct result of administrative corruption which looked the other way as the building owners kept violating code after code -- it is clear, then, that we need to hold government officials more accountable not less.
Which is why the government’s recent move to amend the Government Servants (Conduct) Rules 1979 by in a way that would relax the provision of mandatory submission of wealth statements is such a point of concern.
According to Transparency International Bangladesh, some 1.5 million government employees will be exempted from accountability were this amendment to be passed, which would all but allow corruption to breed even further. Indeed, the outright annulment of the provision would incentivize unscrupulous government officials to essentially engage in further corrupt practices in a bid to fill their personal coffers.
Earlier this month, the nation learned about former land minister Saifuzzaman Chowdhury’s vast personal wealth with an extensive UK property empire worth around 200 million pounds. While the accruing of wealth in general is not inherently a problem, in the run up to this year’s elections Saifuzzaman’s tax returns -- submitted along with his affidavit to the Election Commission -- failed to make any mentions about his overseas income.
The increasing leniency for civil servants to be transparent about their wealth will inevitably beget further corruption. Which is a shame as a zero tolerance policy when it comes to corruption was one of the government’s most prominent electoral pledges.
From negligence which leads to buildings collapsing or factory fires, corruption has never been a victimless crime. We hope our law-makers come to their senses and stop this amendment right in its tracks.
