CBA excesses

The Daily Star's investigation into the CBA activities in the Nationalised Commercial Banks (NCBs) revealed a pattern that no forward-looking society can afford to condone. In one incident in the Agrani bank on Tuesday, CBA leaders humiliated the bank's transport officer for not providing them with an air-conditioned car to travel out of Dhaka. The CBA members are class-III employees, hence not entitled to many of the amenities usually given to grade one and two employees. But their political clout and unruly behaviour invalidate all rules and regulations.

The problem is neither new nor unique. In 1988, a government-sponsored taskforce made a number of recommendations to rein in CBA excesses, but political pressures prevented implementation of those recommendations despite the then cabinet committee's approval.

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The result from not acting to stem the problem has been a further slide in their behaviour. On November 8, the DGM of the Agrani bank's Mymensingh region encountered threats from CBA stalwarts as he complied with an instruction from the head office with respect to filling vacancies through inter-branch transfers. The Daily Star investigation found that, in addition to interfering with transfer and posting, CBA leaders take bribes from house building loan seekers and arrange loans by intimidating officers.

Corruption and bribery are endemic in this country and they pervade all tiers of our society. Our concern, however, lies with the highhandedness being displayed by a specific coterie of government employees in the decision making process. Particularly in the NCBs, the conducts result in reduced income generation and productivity. We urge the government to devise a standard code of conduct for the CBA and deter such activities through exemplary disciplinary measures.