Govt faces Tk 20cr loss due to BRTA graft in last 5 years
Staff Correspondent
About 50 percent of driving licences carried by drivers across the country are fake and prepared through irregularities and corruption, says the chairman of Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA).
Not only the fraudsters, a section of staffs of BRTA and the Ministry of Communications are also are providing drivers with fake licences.
The government faced a loss of Tk 20 crore in revenue income in the last five years due to corruption at BRTA.
These were revealed by BRTA Chairman Sunil Kanti Bosh at a views exchange meeting between the communications ministry and the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) yesterday.
“Fifty percent of the licences available with the drivers were not issued by BRTA,” Sunil told the meet.
When the BRTA chairman reveals such information people have no other choices but commuting, even walking on the footpaths, every day knowing that their lives depend on unskilled and unregistered drivers.
Not only BRTA, the Roads and Highways Department (RHD) under the communications ministry is also infested with such level of corruption.
The government staffs in these offices often resort to excuses and seldom carry out their duties to commit illegal activities.
A single example could clarify how irresponsible and inefficient the government staffs are regarding their duties.
Communications Secretary Iqbal Mahmud has recently sent emails to 250 RHD staffs seeking the status of an ongoing project.
Surprisingly, the secretary received only three replies, while the rest 247 engineers gave an unbelievable excuse.
They said they could not reply due to “password difficulties”.
All these pieces of information were confirmed by the communications secretary and other high-ups including chairmen and director generals of different departments under the ministry at yesterday’s meet.
“The fact of corruption infesting the communications ministry cannot be denied,” said Secretary Iqbal Mahmud, who briefed the anti-corruption watchdog about recent efforts to curb corruption at his ministry.
The meeting was arranged by ACC as an effort to curb institutional corruption in the country.
The communications ministry has identified the sectors infested with corruption to take preventive steps.
“It would be a great success if the process against institutional corruption continues. If it remains in effect it would strengthen accountability. Other ministries should follow the example of the ministry to check institutional corruption,” said ACC Chairman Lt Gen (Retd) Hasan Mashhud Chowdhury.
The sectors identified as corruption-infested in BRTA are licensing and registration sector and appointment, purchase and sales.
The corruption-infested sectors in RHD include leasing out bridges, taking land in possession, misappropriation of toll money, purchases and expenditures, monitoring, and irregularities in construction of roads and highways.
The identified corruption-infested sectors in BRTC are approval and implementation of projects, selecting roads for BRTC bus services, substandard construction, project selection, appointment and transfer, tender and preservation, and maintenance.
Bangladesh Railway faces problems in implementation of projects, appointment and transfer. Besides, theft and misappropriation of railway materials, and misappropriation of money earned as fares without ticket are also rife.
The communications ministry will introduce the system of regular meetings with locals, taking their opinions, making them a part of its projects, online transaction, stern action against corruptionists and increasing accountability and transparency to check corruption.
Courtesy: thedailystar.net
