A nationwide survey, conducted on 2,750 people, shows around 67 per cent of the surveyed people observed that there were some irregularities and corruption in the relief distribution during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Besides, 14 per cent of the surveyed people said the relief distribution was entirely corruption-free, while nearly11 per cent of them believe that the relief distribution process was very corrupt and nearly 8 per cent have no knowledge about it, according to the survey.
The findings of the survey were presented at a stakeholders' engagement session titled "Policy Making and Trust During the COVID-19 Crisis in Bangladesh" held at Biniyog Bhaban, Bangladesh Investments and Development Authority (BIDA) in Dhaka on Tuesday.
BRAC Institute of Governance and Development (BIGD) organised the programme, highlighting its two surveys.
Dr Mirza Masood Hassan, Senior Research Fellow, BIGD, presented the survey titled "Dynamics of state-society trust relations during the Covid-19 pandemic".
The survey was conducted in 2021. It expressed the surveyed people's perceptions in areas of health, relief management, vaccination, and others during the pandemic.
The session was moderated by N M Zeaul Alam, Advisor of BIGD.
Dr Asif Shahan, Research Fellow, BIGD, presented another survey titled "Managing the Covid-19 pandemic: The role of local government officials in Bangladesh" at the discussion.
While presenting the survey on the dynamics of state-society trust relations during the Covid-19 pandemic, Dr Mirza Masood Hassan said citizens believe that the government has sincere intentions for public welfare and to improve its services as a consequence attempt.
Mentioning that citizens were found broadly positive regarding government services during Covid-19, Dr Mirza Masood Hassan, however, said that when it comes to their personal experience with specific services, they tend to harbour negative views (except for Covid-19 vaccination).
Regarding citizens' evaluations of the government response to Covid-19, he said some 36 per cent of people in the survey believe that the government's response to Covid-19 performance was effective, while 54 per cent of people think that it was somewhat effective.
Dr Asif Shahan, who gave a presentation on 'Managing the Covid-19 pandemic: The role of local government officials in Bangladesh' at the discussion, said discretion exercised by the local government officials can be properly utilised if they remain committed to the goal and understand their responsibilities.
It is necessary to develop a sense of 'common purpose', according to him.
The findings are drawn from two nationwide surveys conducted in 2021 and 2023. The survey in 2023 was focused on citizens' experiences and perceptions regarding the feedback mechanisms on government services.
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