Finance Minister AMA Muhith said on Thursday the government raised the pay-scale of government officials to check corruption.
He said it would take time to get the benefit of pay raise because those who are habituated to resorting to graft can't stop doing so within a short time.
"Though the latest wage structure is enough to lead a better life, those who are habituated to adopting graft can't drop it overnight," he said.
The minister was speaking as the chief guest at a ceremony held to honour best Corruption Prevention Committees (CPC). It was organised by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) at the Jatiya Natyashala auditorium of the Shilpakala Academy in the city.
Presided over by ACC chairman Iqbal Mahmood, the programme was also addressed by ACC commissioner AFM Aminul Islam, director general (prevention) Md Jafar Iqbal and leaders of different units of CPCs.
Talking about the government's move against corruption, Mr Muhith said the government took multi-dimensional measures, including the National Integrity Strategy.
"It is not an easy task, rather quite time-consuming," he said.
In next eight to ten years, no one will say the country is filled with corruption as the future generation, following the national integrity strategy, will not resort to corruption because of their financial solvency, he added.
The government is working to find out an ideal way to completely wipe out corruption, he said.
Talking about current economic situation of the country, he said there are very few beggars in the country right now except professional ones.
Rehabilitation programmes for them bears little outcome, he added.
"As per my estimation, there are 0.6 million beggars in the country whom we couldn't restrain from begging; no matter what we do for them, they return to their profession," he said.
Referring to the lower rate of poverty in the country, Mr Muhith said, "It is normal that some people will beg for their whole life, but the government will do everything for the people who beg for necessity."
The government looks to free the country of beggars by 2018 in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a United Nations 2030 development agenda to end poverty and protect human rights.
Praising ACC's recent performance, Mr Muhith said it is good news that the number of cases filed by the commission declined while the conviction rate in the cases rose to 70 per cent.
At the programme, the Finance Minister handed over awards to different corruption prevention committees of different upazilas of Dhaka and Mymensingh districts for their role in preventing graft and raising anti-corruption awareness among the citizens.
Finance Minister AMA Muhith handing over crest to a member of the best anti-corruption committees at the National Theater Auditorium in the city Thursday, marking the Corruption Prevention Week-2018 — PID
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