The office of the Controller General of Accounts has become a den of corruption as each service provided by the office has ‘specific spread of bribe’, a report of Transparency International, Bangladesh said on Sunday.
The report named 23 services provided by the CGA office and their corresponding bribe spread where the highest amount in bribes – up to 10 per cent of the amount – are demanded in release of pension funds and vehicle maintenance expenditure.
TIB released the report at a discussion on ‘Challenges of good governance at the CGA office; ways to overcome it’, at the CIRDAP auditorium in the city.
The research for the report was conducted from September 2010 to March 2012 when 150 people were interviewed, including officials and employees of different ministries, DG offices, departments and boards, government colleges, primary and secondary schools and former and incumbent officials and employees of CGA and CAG offices.
Of the 23 sectors, the research found that up to Tk 2,000 was being paid as bribe for including anyone in a new pay scale, Tk 100-200 for drawing the first salary and bonus, 2 per cent on internet and telephone bills, 1-5 per cent on a courier bill, 1 per cent on workers’ wages bill, 1-10 per cent or
Tk 50-1,000 as bribe on TA-DA bills, 0.2-7 per cent for contingency bill, 1-10 per cent for pension and Tk 300-1,000 for inclusion in time scale.
The TIB findings also showed that employees had to pay Tk 50-100 as bribe for making their job permanent, Tk 500-1000 for annual increment, Tk 100-500 for LPC, Tk 20-100 for GPF account slip, Tk 500-5,000 for advance withdrawal of GPF, 10-15 per cent for consultant bill, Tk 50-200 for recreation allowance, 10 per cent for dress allowance, Tk 10-20 for bill entry, Tk 20-50 for cheque delivery and Tk 50-500 for correction of errors.
The report said that bribes for contractors’ bills varied between 5 and10 per cent where the total amount was below Tk 1 lakh; between 1 and1.5 per cent in case of an amount above Tk 5 lakh; and between 0.20 and 0.50 per cent in case of an amount above Tk 20 lakh.
The report said that the activities of the CGA office were being carried out with a 36.84 per cent shortage of manpower.
‘It’s unfortunate that the CGA office has been operating under the same organgram for 30 years despite rapid automation and technological advancement,’ finance minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith said while addressing the programme as the chief guest.
He said the TIB report had raised a crucial question whether the accounts office should be separated from the audit office.
‘They should not remain together as the accounting and audit standards have established their own places in the system over the years,’ he said.
Muhith said the report had successfully portrayed the overall picture although there could be some distortions in a few cases.
‘I simplified the pension procedure in 1980’s during my previous tenure as the finance minister. But, in many cases the CGA office failed to maintain that procedure,’ he said.
TIB Trustee Board chairmen Sultana Kamal said one should not make sweeping statements that every one in every sector was corrupt.
‘Only a few people are corrupt. Maintaining ethical standard is an individual practice which makes its impact in a collective way,’ she said.
Former caretaker government adviser M Hafizuddin Khan, TIB executive director Iftekharuzzaman, Comptroller and Auditor General Ahmed Ataul Hakim, the acting CGA, M Anisur Rahman and lawmaker M Tajul Islam, also member of the parliamentary standing committee on finance ministry, spoke in the meeting among others.
-With New Age input
