Editorial
Probing institutionalised corruption
The campaign must be thorough and produce results
The campaign that the Anti-Corruption Commission plans to undertake soon against institutional as well as institutionalised corruption is one the nation will certainly welcome, for obvious reasons. In these past many years, graft has eaten away at the vitals of society with the result that citizens have always found themselves at the receiving end of manifest injustice. Indeed, corruption across many tiers, notably in the public sector bodies, has been synonymous with harassment of the general public. If now the ACC can truly get into the business of ferreting out the corrupt elements in the utility services, one can be reasonably sure that a semblance of normality will come to life.
And yet the task will not be an easy one. This is because over the years innumerable rags to riches stories involving individuals with suspect motives have consistently undermined the principle of public service. The instance of a meter reader who, through establishing a nexus of bribery and gratification in the power sector, has enriched himself far beyond his legitimate means to do, is a case in point. It is but one instance; and there are instances galore to show that while citizens have been given short shrift where provision of services is concerned, officials and employees in such areas as the power, gas, telephone and water supply sectors have conveniently established a chain of corruption in which they have provided protection to one another. It is this chain that must be broken, ruthlessly and swiftly, if the ACC means to produce results.
Let the ACC go all-out in probing the corruption that has undermined the working of utility services-related organisations. Investigations into corruption within the Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha are already underway; and similar is the inquiry into wrongdoing within the Dhaka City Corporation. The ACC's plans regarding legal action against corrupt elements in these bodies as well as forwarding its recommendations to the government should be based on thorough investigations so that no loopholes allow such investigations to fall through. We are pleased that the government has lately been emphasising a citizens' charter of rights. That can only add a new, positive dimension to the overall drive against corruption at all levels.
We welcome the ACC's new move. However, we would also like to sound a caveat here: even as the drive against institutionalised corruption goes on, care must be taken that the normal flow of work at the bodies under the microscope and their service delivery goes on without interruption.
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