Editorial
Ill-gotten wealth of Titas employees and officers
These individuals must not escape accountability
On the face of it, the news that 126 employees and officers of Titas Gas have promised to return their ill-gotten wealth, amounting to nearly Tk. 400 crore, to the state exchequer, should cheer everyone. The task force has done a good job there. Now that these Titas Gas people, of whom a staggering 118 are meter readers turned property owners in bizarre fairy tale fashion, are prepared to give back all that wealth to the state, we can only reflect on all the rags to riches stories that we have seen take shape in recent times.
The matter of the corruption indulged in by Titas employees is but a tip of the iceberg where institutional corruption is concerned. We expect the on-going drive against corruption to go on, indeed pick up speed from here on. However, a most worrying part of all this is that it appears to render anyone willing to give up his or her illegally earned wealth immune to prosecution as well as being given continuity in his or her job. That certainly cannot be satisfying to a nation which has long suffered collectively precisely because of such corrupt individuals and organisations. It is our belief, considering the massive scale of wrongdoing committed nearly everywhere, that those who acknowledge their corrupt dealings and are willing to give up everything they have acquired through hoodwinking the nation and in brazen defiance of the law and morality should nevertheless be held to account from the perspective of rule of law. Any recovery of ill-gotten wealth is encouraging. More than that, a strict application of a process of accountability to those who have looted public wealth serves a warning to them and others about the risks inherent in living on pilferage and highway robbery.
The need for surveillance against corruption as also the requirement of internal reforms in the various utility organisations can hardly be over-emphasised. Moreover, there is an imperative in ensuring that the 480 factories which owe Titas Gas as much as Tk.1200 crore in unpaid bills are made to clear their debts. It is this sinister combination of a propensity not to clear bills and an overwhelming desire to lay one's hands on resources that are properly that of the state which have led to poor service from and losses in utility organisations. The time to stem the slide is now.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel.
Comments