Commitment of political parties underscored

Media personalities underlined strong political commitment of all parties and strict monitoring for promoting integrity to ensure accountable and participatory governance at every level.
They also suggested measures from the top level of the state to ensure effective functioning of ethics committees at every ministry for upholding good governance through promotion of integrity and prevention of corruption.
The suggestions and observations came at a seminar on 'National Integrity Strategy: The Role of Media in Building Public Awareness' at Biddut Bhaban in the capital on Thursday.
The Ministry of Information (MoI) organised the seminar in collaboration with Cabinet Division and JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency). Secretary of the MoI Martuza Ahmed moderated the event while Cabinet Secretary Muhammad Musharraf Hussain Bhuiyan was present as the chief guest.
Deputy Secretary of the Cabinet Division in a PowerPoint presentation said the government took the initiative of NIS (National Integrity Strategy) to coordinate different regulatory measures and legal interventions like Prevention of Corruption Act-1947, Government Servant (Conduct) Rules-1979, Right to Information Act-2009, Whistle-Blowers' Protection Act-2011 and Prevention of Money Laundering Act-2012.
He said about 16 institutions, including six non-state institutions like political parties, private sector, NGOs and family, were identified for implementing the NIS and mass media is one of them.
Talking about the progress achieved through the programme so far, he said the ethics committee was formed at each ministry to deal with the task of integrity and sub-committees were also formed in priority areas like land management, right to information and prevention of food adulteration.
"And the committees were functioning actively to this effect," he said after seeking serious attention of the local media over the issue to build public awareness across the country about the initiative of transparency and accountability.
Senior journalist and President of Bangladesh Federal Union of Journalists (BFUJ) Monjurul Ahsan Bulbul emphasised proper and effective functioning of the ethics committees, saying that a girl was gang-raped in the capital a couple of weeks ago and the victim was forced to go to three police stations only to file a case.
"I think the girl was harassed by the policemen when she was seeking legal support. Unfortunately, we're yet to see any move from the ethics committee in the Ministry of Home Affairs against such police officials," he said.
Editor of Bangla daily Bhorer Kagoj Shamol Dutta said the initiative of promoting integrity comes from the top level of the government but the picture of transparency and accountability is completely different at the bottom.
He also focused on proper empowerment of National Press Council (NPC) and Press Institute of Bangladesh (PIB) that would help increase professional skill of journalists through reducing the opportunity of harassment.
Columnist Abu Sayeed Khan said the move would not be effectively implemented unless strong political commitment is in place and it must come from all political parties.
Speaking as the chief guest, Cabinet Secretary Muhammad Musharraf Hussain Bhuiyan said the MoI had made good progress towards implementation of NIS in some areas and the discussion with the media people would help achieve the remaining targets.
"The NIS cannot be implemented overnight. It has to be done in a gradual process and it's a comprehensive agenda of good governance. So, the whole nation has to be prepared for this," he said.
He said Ombudsman in each organisation is a good idea. Interestingly, in India, at least one political party has its own ombudsman. "One day, officials in the public administration will have to make public disclosure of their wealth," he added.
Abir Hassan of Radio Amar, J E Mamun of Jamuna TV, Bhanu Ranjan Chakraborty of ATN Bangla and senior journalist Alatf Mahmud, among others, spoke on the occasion.
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