Clicky
National, Front Page

Cleansing drives to intensify from Jan


Published : 29 Nov 2019 09:33 PM | Updated : 05 Sep 2020 07:00 PM

The ongoing drive against the corrupt, criminals, drug peddlers, tender manipulators and dishonest traders is to be intensified from the very beginning of January next year, immediately after the completion of the councils of the ruling Awami League and its different front organisations.

As the people believe the country will go ahead with Awami League remaining in power, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is determined to root out corruption from all sectors. The Prime Minister has also vowed to keep the drives continuing while Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader announced that the drives will be extended to the district and upazila levels.

On January 7, Sheikh Hasina, elder daughter of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, formed the government for the third consecutive term as the prime minister for a fourth term with a 47-member council of ministers. Earlier in her party’s electoral manifesto, Sheikh Hasina had pledged to keep the country on the track of prosperity.

Aimed at putting in place a skilled, service-oriented and accountable administration, the prime minister said in her electoral manifesto work on building a modern, technology-based, skilled, corruption-free, mass-oriented administration would continue. And she said the transparency, accountability, fairness in the civil administration would be ensured.

Since the formation of the government, various drives against all sorts of corruption and irregularities are continuing across the country. But all her efforts to make Bangladesh a prosperous country are being barred as corruption and irregularities still engulf all sectors. As per the government decision and policy, apart from the law enforcement agencies, anti-graft body Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), National Board of Revenue (NBR), Bangladesh Bank and Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU) are working jointly as well as separately against the corrupt and criminals.

As part of the anti-corruption drives, the ACC is working with a list of around 800 people linked with casino crimes, extortion, tender manipulation, bribery and other corruption. Those people include ministers, lawmakers, politicians, businessmen, contractors, and present and former officials of the government.

Besides, the ACC has sought information from the Bangladesh Bank for details of bank accounts of about 600 people while the BFIU authorities have already frozen bank accounts of around 400 of them on the recommendations of the ACC, the NBR and the court. Moreover, bans on traveling abroad have also been imposed against around 500 of those people.

An ACC official concerned said, the anti-corruption drives and other activities are being monitored as well as supervised by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) directly. The ACC sources said that the anti-graft body targeted the corrupt and dishonest officials of at least 28 service sectors in the government alongside politicians and businessmen.

According to sources, as part of the ongoing cleansing drives, the anti-graft watchdog authorities have already intensified surveillance. Official sources at the ACC said, at least 25 officials and employees of different sectors in the government already have been arrested by the ACC in recent times.

According to the ACC, most of the allegations of corruption are received against the officials and employees of different service sectors including electricity, gas, passport, land administration, health and education sectors, WASA, Customs authorities, LGED, PWD, Housing, sub-registry offices, Roads and Highway.

ACC official sources said, intelligence surveillance has been intensified on a large number of officials and employees of those sectors. Earlier on January 18 in 2017, the ACC had constituted teams to prevent corruptions by the officials and employees of 28 government sectors like the Bangladesh Road Transport Authorities (BRTA) Customs Excise and Value Added Taxes, Revenue Department, Public Works Department, Road and Highways, Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA), Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation (BIWTC), Comptroller Auditor General’s Office, Civil Aviation Authority, Biman Bangladesh Airlines, Dhaka WASA, Directorate of Narcotics Control (DNC), Bangladesh Railway, Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company and Dhaka City Sub-Registry Office.