Md. Arafat Rahman :
The word corruption has become associated with our daily lives. Every day in social life we hear and read the news of corruption.
There is no stage in our country where corruption has not spread. Corruption has spread in our family life and even in individual life.
This corruption is everywhere. Debt defaulters, illegal occupation of government property, embezzlement of government resources, theft of electricity, water and gas, selling of examination question papers before the examination, fraud and harassment in the name of jobs – where is not the corruption?
Corruption indicates a deviation from the norm from a theological and moral point of view. Corruption also involves large-scale bribery, misappropriation of property, and abuse of public and political power to satisfy personal interests.
Aristotle was the first to use the word corruption. Defining this, economists said that, corruption is an act where a third party benefits because of unethical payments, which ensures their influence in a particular case, thereby benefiting both the party involved in the corruption and the corrupt party will be the authority.
The present society is plagued by this destructive social disease named corruption. The word corruption means unprincipled and immoral misconduct.
Naturally, corruption is an unsupported policy. In this way, it can be said that corruption is when people act arbitrarily by violating the principles by showing arbitrariness.
Corruption is a special type of criminal behavior that is contrary to the prevailing principles, norms and values of the society. Corruption involves the misuse of profession, power, privileges, titles, etc.
Billions of taka is smuggled out of Bangladesh every year due to corruption. If this huge amount of money could be saved by preventing corruption, it would go a long way in alleviating poverty through child and maternity care, repairing financially damaged educational institutions and spending on public welfare, as well as reducing our reliance on donors.
A social movement is needed to save the nation from this terrible epidemic that is destroying the national vitality.
Development experts have identified corruption as one of the biggest obstacles to Bangladesh’s national development due to the rampant spread of corruption and the enormous economic damage it has caused.
It is not a new thing that the development of Bangladesh is lagging behind due to corruption.
Yet corruption is not diminishing. As the days go by, corruption is creating more and more holes in the society. It is creating extreme instability in the society.
The administrative control system is also weakening due to the loss of social balance due to corruption. Besides, corruption has created permanent wounds in the economy of Bangladesh.
According to information from various sources, electricity of about lots of money is stolen from Bangladesh every year.
In addition to the theft, the loss in the power sector due to system loss has been found to be even more.
The need for electricity, especially in the industrial sector, is immense. But due to the inadequacy of power facilities i.e. load shedding, irregular power supply; the loss in the manufacturing industry is big. Besides electricity, there is also huge loss in the fuel gas sector.
It is not a new thing that a file doesn’t move without paying a bribe. Development analysts say that at one time there was so much reluctance to bribe that there was a reluctance to socialize with those who had that type of job opportunity.
Now, instead of reluctance, it is seen that many people are moving forward in kinship thinking of additional income. People’s sincerity towards morality seems to be gone. As a result, the transaction of bribe in Bangladesh is growing.
Corruption can occur on different criteria. If the coverage is small and involves a small number of people, it is referred to as petty corruption and if it is affected on a large scale, it is generally referred to as widespread corruption.
Small gifts or personal connections are used in this type of corruption to ensure a favorable environment. This type of corruption is more prevalent in the developing world.
One of the main reasons for this is relatively low salaries and allowances of employees. Corruption also serves as an impediment to the development of the country and its people in various ways.
Such as: reducing administrative efficiency, increasing people’s embarrassment, delaying government decision making, depriving people of their fair share, severely tarnishing the country’s international reputation, and it hinders investment in the productive sector, increases social anarchy, various types of crime and terrorism.
Among the anti-corruption laws in our country, the Prevention of Corruption Act 1947 and the Anti-Corruption Act 1957 is important. According to the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1947, this law was enacted to ensure that government employees must not involve themselves in bribery and corruption.
Anyone who commits such an offense under this Act shall be liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding seven years or to fine.
The Prevention of Corruption Act, 1957 provides that if a representative has an amount of money or assets that do not correspond to the known source of income of that person, it will be a punishable offense.
Hopefully, the government has launched a special campaign to eradicate corruption from service-oriented institutions. Many corrupt officials and employees have already been arrested red handed on charges of illegal transactions and misuse of state resources and power.
Purification operations are being carried out in various agencies and departments including health department, drug administration, education, police department, banks, income tax department and forest department. Besides, the Anti-Corruption Commission has been transformed into an effective and independent body.
Joint forces, police and RAB members across the country have been able to control militancy, proletarian activities, isolated clashes, political retaliation, violence, robberies, kidnappings, etc. by working in the field.
Punitive action has been taken against the police members on various charges. If such steps continue, there is no doubt that the rule of law will be established in the society.
It cannot be solved by the government alone without the cooperation of the people. Therefore, the joint efforts of the government and the civil society are essential in this movement.
All have to do is: the judiciary has to play an active role, the rule of law has to be established, the independent Anti-Corruption Commission has to play an active role, the government has to work with the mentality of ensuring the rule of law, the basic human rights must be guaranteed and religious beliefs must be encouraged.
In addition, people must be encouraged against injustice. It is possible to solve the problem easily and quickly with the joint initiative of the state and the people.
In this age of competition and globalization, we cannot be depleted in this way due to corruption. All that is needed is to take well-thought-out and coordinated steps.
Let the first step of our thousand-mile walk begin with a pledge and declaration to build a society free of bribery and corruption.
The writer is an official of Southeast University, Dhaka.
