Editorial
Only 300 audit reports before PAC since 1973!
Situation calls for a strengthening of institutions
WE will begin at the beginning. Two per cent of Bangladesh's GDP growth is swallowed up by corruption. That is a distinctly uncomfortable sign of how the objective of a promotion of public welfare is all too easily and regularly defeated. And now comes the revelation, per courtesy of a roundtable in the city the other day, that of the thousand audit reports prepared and submitted to the Jatiya Sangsad since 1973, only 300 have been discussed by the Public Accounts Committee of parliament in all these years. Incredible as it may sound, the fact remains that the revelation shows up an image of the abysmal failure of institutional bodies where dealing with public concerns is the issue.
And now add to the failure issue the fact that no mechanism exists for the nation to know what has happened to the 700 audit reports which the PAC did not discuss. Clearly, an audit report is a serious issue and must lead to speedy action. But judging by what has been going on since 1973, it is now obvious that these reports have been treated in cavalier fashion. The attitude is indicative of a major drawback at work. In the first place, the efforts put in by the Comptroller and Auditor General's office while preparing audit reports are simply pushed aside, for the most part. In the second, the situation points to the ineffectual nature of the work the various Public Accounts Committees of the JS have been doing in the nearly four decades since the liberation of the country. In other words, our failure to have in place strong institutions responsible for upholding the public interest has led to corruption and its relentless proliferation across the board. A strong parliament and especially a powerful PAC is a much needed check on those with clear motives of indulging in corruption. Unless such a powerful body is there, exerting its power with full authority, corruption cannot be combated.
It has been a particular feature of politics in the last many years that too much time was wasted in setting up the various parliamentary bodies. That was reflective of a laid-back approach. Fortunately, the present JS, the ninth one in the nation's history, has corrected that failure by quickly moving to have all parliamentary committees formed in its very first session. The expectation now is these bodies will truly work in the spirit in which they are constitutionally set up. It is especially the PAC that must convey the message to the country that its actions are binding and that it means business.
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