Enforcing govt officials' code of conduct
Thursday, 6 September 2007
The government has issued a directive to its employees under various ministries to submit their wealth statements within December 31, 2007. The order has been given in exercise of the code of conduct framed in 1979 which required that the government employees have to submit statements on movable and immovable assets they possess to the government from the beginning until their retirement from service.
According to this code of conduct, the government officials are also have to provide reports on any increase or decrease of their wealth every five years.
Unfortunately, during the last two decades and eight years, no action was taken on the decision, for it was conveniently swept under the carpet.
It was not simply a case of defiance of the government order by its officials. The successive administrations that took office thenceforth, too, did not have the political will to enforce the directive either.
However, the latest circular issued by the incumbent government on August 28 in this regard says that the decision aims to enhance the ongoing campaign against corruption and also ensure accountability and efficiency in the government service.
Though late, it is still commendable that at long last the government has decided to enforce the code of conduct for government officials with due seriousness. It is important to note here the particular context of issuing the directive afresh. The caretaker government, as everyone is aware of, is busy fighting corruption on all fronts. At the moment, the campaign is in force on the political front. The directive in question, therefore, hints at widening the front covering the government employees under it. The question one may raise at this point is why in the beginning it was the politicians, and not the government servants, who had to bear the brunt of the anti-corruption drive? The reason is obvious. The rot always starts from the top when one is talking about the administration.
Meanwhile, many leaders and ministers of the immediate past BNP-led alliance government as well as those of the previous Awami League government have been taken into custody by the incumbent government on charge of corruption.
It does not need further explaining that politicians after being voted into public office become answerable to the people for their role and performance. As they are pledge-bound to the people, any corruption committed by them is looked upon as a breach of contract with them. Small wonder the ongoing drive against corruption received widespread support from all quarters. But how could the politicians misuse power in such a massive scale and succeed in getting away with their corrupt practice, if some corrupt officials in the administration had also not joined hands with them? For everyone knows, it always takes two to tango.
Now that the government has turned its attention to its own administrative machinery is a big stride in the right direction. Admittedly, the task of cleaning the administration of corruption and all kinds of malpractices is a Herculean one.
Enforcement of the official code of conduct of the employees is just the beginning of a protracted campaign. In fact, ensuring transparency and accountability about what assets the government employees build with their legal earning is a modest first step towards addressing the yet bigger problem of pervasive corruption in the administration. Surely, it will go a long way to discourage them from engaging in corrupt practice.
It is hoped that the move to bring the government officials under scrutiny regarding their incomes and assets would not stop in middle of the road. And if carried out through to the end, the step will complete one part of the cycle of the drive against corruption that the caretaker government had started at its inception.
According to this code of conduct, the government officials are also have to provide reports on any increase or decrease of their wealth every five years.
Unfortunately, during the last two decades and eight years, no action was taken on the decision, for it was conveniently swept under the carpet.
It was not simply a case of defiance of the government order by its officials. The successive administrations that took office thenceforth, too, did not have the political will to enforce the directive either.
However, the latest circular issued by the incumbent government on August 28 in this regard says that the decision aims to enhance the ongoing campaign against corruption and also ensure accountability and efficiency in the government service.
Though late, it is still commendable that at long last the government has decided to enforce the code of conduct for government officials with due seriousness. It is important to note here the particular context of issuing the directive afresh. The caretaker government, as everyone is aware of, is busy fighting corruption on all fronts. At the moment, the campaign is in force on the political front. The directive in question, therefore, hints at widening the front covering the government employees under it. The question one may raise at this point is why in the beginning it was the politicians, and not the government servants, who had to bear the brunt of the anti-corruption drive? The reason is obvious. The rot always starts from the top when one is talking about the administration.
Meanwhile, many leaders and ministers of the immediate past BNP-led alliance government as well as those of the previous Awami League government have been taken into custody by the incumbent government on charge of corruption.
It does not need further explaining that politicians after being voted into public office become answerable to the people for their role and performance. As they are pledge-bound to the people, any corruption committed by them is looked upon as a breach of contract with them. Small wonder the ongoing drive against corruption received widespread support from all quarters. But how could the politicians misuse power in such a massive scale and succeed in getting away with their corrupt practice, if some corrupt officials in the administration had also not joined hands with them? For everyone knows, it always takes two to tango.
Now that the government has turned its attention to its own administrative machinery is a big stride in the right direction. Admittedly, the task of cleaning the administration of corruption and all kinds of malpractices is a Herculean one.
Enforcement of the official code of conduct of the employees is just the beginning of a protracted campaign. In fact, ensuring transparency and accountability about what assets the government employees build with their legal earning is a modest first step towards addressing the yet bigger problem of pervasive corruption in the administration. Surely, it will go a long way to discourage them from engaging in corrupt practice.
It is hoped that the move to bring the government officials under scrutiny regarding their incomes and assets would not stop in middle of the road. And if carried out through to the end, the step will complete one part of the cycle of the drive against corruption that the caretaker government had started at its inception.