Chief Adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus today descried boundless corruption as the “biggest problem” in Bangladesh as he said the previous Awami League government has taken the corruption to the top of the world.
Corruption not only increases costs incredibly but also destroys all the efforts of the government and the people and it makes meaningless all goals, policies, institutional arrangements of the government as well as the responsibilities of its officials, he said in a televised address to the nation on the eve of the great Independence and Eid-ul-Fitr.
He said the government, businessmen, industrialists, investors and all the citizens of the country have to work according to these unwritten rules (corruption).
The chief adviser said citizens have to strive to become experts in the art of survival by dealing with it.
Noting that the whole world has understood that we as a nation do not carry the identity of honesty, Yunus said this is not only a matter of national disgrace, but it is a suicidal issue in international trade.
“Like the countrymen, the international community also wants us to be free from corruption, because they want to expand trade and commerce with us. If we cannot be free from corruption, trade and commerce will not progress. Bangladesh has no way without being free from corruption,” he said.
Yunus said his interim government is putting top priority on making all work corruption-free.
“In addition to trying to keep this government’s tenure corruption-free, we are committed to ensuring that the citizens of the country can be free from government-sponsored corruption in the coming days as well,” he said.
The chief adviser said, “We are giving importance to one thing in preventing corruption and harassment.”
No citizen should have to physically appear in any government office for daily, monthly, or annual routine work with the government, he said, adding as part of the prevention of corruption, it has been decided to introduce e-filing in all government offices.
If the e-filing system is introduced, corruption will decrease and this will make it easy to know which file is stuck on which desk in which office, he said.
Yunus said his government is working to launch online services wherever possible in government activities as helpless citizens are forced to pay incredible amounts of money to get various government services.
“We are determined to save citizens from having to deal with money transactions and suffering. Write to us or e-mail us with suggestions on how to make the process of getting online services easier. If you or anyone in your family wants to provide this service commercially, you can take training and provide this service from anywhere in the world,” he said.
During the previous government, false cases were chosen as a tool to suppress dissents, he said, adding after examining and sorting at various stages, initiatives have been taken to withdraw these harassment cases.
Of the political harassment cases filed during the last AL government, 6,295 cases have been recommended for withdrawal across the country so far and all other harassment cases are also being withdrawn gradually, he mentioned.
In addition, 413 cases related to speech offenses pending under the Cyber Security Act have been withdrawn so far and this act is being repealed immediately and a citizen-friendly Cyber Security Act is being made, he mentioned.
“We are also taking legal steps to prevent people’s suffering. Now there is no need to go to the police station to sign while filing a GD. It can be done online. Necessary instructions have been given in this regard,” he said.
Harassment of expatriate Bangladeshis has been reduced through amendments to the Power of Attorney Rules, he said.
In light of the amended rules, even if a person of Bangladeshi origin does not have a Bangladeshi passport, he or she can execute a power of attorney from abroad only if he or she has a No Visa Required sticker in his or her passport or a birth certificate or national identity card, he added.
After the government’s decision and necessary measures, the entire process of buying air tickets has been taken online, as a result of which the price of air tickets has decreased by 50 to 75 percent, he said.
“Especially the expatriate brothers and sisters in the Middle East are getting relief from this”, he said, adding besides the price of tickets on other airlines has also decreased.
The chief adviser said the government has taken initiative to digitize land services to provide harassment-free and corruption-free services to citizens.
As part of this, the Ministry of Land has launched the programme of paying land rent, registration, cancellation, providing certified copies of Khatian or Parcha and Mouza maps or designs online from home, he said.
This method will end suffering, opacity and corruption. Currently, this program has been launched on an experimental basis across the country and these will be gradually made more people-friendly and made permanent, he added.
The goal is to gradually take all these responsibilities from the hands of the government and hand them over to service providers or individuals or organizations, he said, adding that village school-college graduates and housewives will provide these services across the country from home and many will become famous for their achievements.
They will provide services to customers across the country from their own villages, he said.