Corruption in LG bodies

That someone has bribed officials of a central or local government official to get his/her works done does hardly deserve any mention in a research study or news item in a country where corruption is rather systemic. But a Transparency International, Bangladesh (TIB) study report, which was unveiled at a function held in Dhaka last Sunday, highlighted, in addition to explaining the extent of bribe-taking in the local government institutions, a few elements that might appear quite interesting to many.

It is not that citizens and contractors alone are compelled to grease the palms of the officials of city corporations and municipalities. These local government institutions, too, have to bribe officials at the local government division and the local government engineering department of the central government to get their projects and funds approved. The TIB study has revealed that even mayors of different municipalities created a common fund of Tk 2.0 million and paid the same to the LG division officials to help enhance their monthly honoraria.

The study report elaborated in what percentages bribes are paid to officials and politicians while implementing projects of LG bodies. It has estimated that nearly 50 per cent of the allocation against a project is eaten up before its implementation. So, one can guess well the quality of the projects executed by corporations and municipalities. There are allegations galore about the longevity of roads, bridges and culverts and other structures built by the LG institutions. Similarly, most citizens seeking services of these entities are found dissatisfied. According to the TIB study, nearly 36 per cent of the households it surveyed fell victim to irregularities in obtaining various certificates and they were required to pay 'speed' money to the officials. The poor people willing to get their names included in the safety net programmes also have to bribe the officials concerned of LG bodies.

When corruption remains a deep-rooted malaise in the national life, it is not possible to remove it from a particular sector in isolation. But conscious efforts are needed to be made in order to reduce its intensity so that citizens suffer less while seeking services from the LG institutions. Any improvement in the corruption syndrome  would not only help, to a large extent, enhance the quality of development projects that are implemented by the LG bodies but also raise the standard of services they offer to the citizens.  However, the LG bodies could be transformed into relatively efficient and effective entities only when those are made truly independent in decision-making and mobilising resources for carrying out development works on their own. The Constitution guarantees the LG bodies enough power. But political interference with the objective of creating a clientele base among the rent-seekers has deprived those bodies of the power and authority that the Constitution provides for. Corruption would continue to dominate the LG institutions unless and until those are allowed to exercise freedom at local-level governance and development activities.