The Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) has expressed concerns over potential misuse and waste of public funds as the LGRD minister announced a block allocation for development projects in each constituency.
The Dhaka chapter of the Berlin-based organisation has also called for establishment of a transparent and accountable governance mechanism to ensure proper utilisation of allocated funds.
The anti-corruption platform in a statement issued to the media on Tuesday said the Local Government and Rural Development (LGRD) minister on Sunday informed the parliament that each Member of Parliament (MP) could receive Tk 200 million over five years for implementing development projects in their respective constituencies.
The process of finalising a project in this regard is now underway.
TIB's concerns stem from its previous study titled "Governance Challenges in the Implementation of the Infrastructure Development Project under Constituency-Based Block Allocation" published on 12 August 2020.
The study uncovered that the schemes under the projects were deemed essential at local level, but their quality of work did not meet expectation.
This discrepancy was attributed to compromised relationships fostering mutual benefit and commission trading between the contractors and their supervisory authorities involved in planning and execution of the schemes.
Consequently, irregularities and corruption within the schemes led to squandering of public funds, ultimately benefiting vested quarters.
TIB Executive Director Dr Iftekharuzzaman said, "Despite the gradual increase in constituency-wise block allocations, there has been historical negligence in ensuring proper fund utilisation and governance in these projects. Lawmakers, who have sole authority over monitoring and addressing complaints related to the projects, often endorse irregularities for personal gain, leading to compromised transparency and accountability."
He highlighted that such schemes provide opportunities to many parliamentarians to abuse political power, engage in nepotism, and gain unethical financial benefits, ultimately normalizing corruption at the local level and misusing state resources.
Referring to the 2020 study, Dr Iftekharuzzaman further said, "Specific recommendations were made, but no noticeable initiatives have been taken to implement those to ensure good governance in use of constituency-wise block allocations. The TIB is now calling for a comprehensive and neutral scrutiny of the previous projects, funded through block allocations, before allocating new funds. The organization also advocates for implementation of a proper monitoring and evaluation system as well as a mandatory code of conduct addressing the lawmakers' integrity and conflicts of interest in executing development schemes."
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