Aiming at rooting out corruption, the government will continue crack down hard on education, health and communication sectors across the country immediately. Soon after she returned home, the Prime Minister sat with the high level officials directly involved in the ongoing operation against corruption, and instructed to go with tougher action against the corrupt and anti-socials, said sources.
Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal along with chiefs of different law enforcement agencies met her at Ganabhaban residence. “And an ‘unscheduled meeting was held with the prime minister. The home ministers and chiefs of law enforcement agencies apprised her (Sheikh Hasina) of the ongoing drive. She asked the law enforcement agencies and authorities concerned intensify the drive and to launch fresh crackdown on education, health and communication sectors across the country immediately,” a high up of home ministry told Bangladesh Post on Thursday.
Apart from the ongoing massive drive against casino kingpins, extortionists, tender manipulators, drug peddlers and criminals, the official said she (Sheikh Hasina) ordered the law enforcement agencies and authorities concerned to go hard on education, health and communication sectors as corruption and irregularities continued engulfing those sectors.
Sheikh Hasina also ordered the taskforce formed to eliminate corruption and irregularities to become more active and take stringent action if anybody earns money by holding dishonest path and his/her irregularities, chaos or dishonest means are found out. Later, an exclusive meeting was held at police headquarters with Inspector General of Police Mohammad Javed Patwary in the chair. Shafiqul Islam, Commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police and other high officials of police department were present in the meeting.
According to police headquarters sources, the police high ups discussed the prime minister’s order and they were framing strategies that how and in what way they would continue the drive across the country. The education always sector receives the highest budgetary allocation every year. But corruption and irregularities continued engulfing the country’s all educational institutions failing to ensure quality education.
Apart from the educational institutions, corruption and irregularities have engulfed the all government offices like SHIKKHA BHABON and NCTB, Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Boards. The teachers from different parts of the country are compelled to pay bribe to the officials and staffs of those government offices for getting MPO, retirement money, and procuring educational material.
Earlier, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) after a long inquiry into the health sector identified 11 areas of corruption and prepared a set of 25 recommendations to stop them. The ACC has come up with 25 recommendations to stop the corruption such as showing citizen charter, inclusion of members from specialized organization in receiving health accessories, following e-government procurement (EGP) tender process regarding purchase, conduct inquiry for giving approval of setting up diagnostic centres and private hospitals, formulating policy for recruitment, making compulsory to write generic number instead of medicine name in the prescription, and increasing internship period to two years from one.
On the other hand, country’s communications sector in most times topped the corruption list in terms of money . Leaders of Bangladesh Sarak Paribahan Malik-Sramik Oikya League (BSPMSOL) urged the government to conduct drives also in the transport sector to end ‘corruption and harassment by godfathers and police’. They also demanded a safe and extortion-free transport sector in the country.
"We transport owners are now worried amid rampant extortion by godfathers, and corruption and harassment by police on roads and highways across the country," Ismail Hossain, a BSPMSOL leader told reporters. They also urged the government to stop disorder, corruption and harassment by police on roads. As per the government high command’s drastic order nobody either in the ruling Awami League or other will be spared if found involved with any offensive activities in order to build a peaceful society, where there would have no envy and hatred among the people of any faith.
Whatever may be the identity of the wrongdoers, those who would be found involved in any irregularity and corruption will be brought to the book and massive drive against them will continues as per the high command directive. As the government is proceeding with its ‘zero tolerance’ policy against corrupts, extortionists, tender manipulators, drug peddlers and criminals these actions will not remain confined to the capital rather spread throughout the country.
