Responding to the problem of corruption
Friday, 5 November 2010
Adnan Amin
THE immediate past caretaker government launched otherwise a strong drive against corruption amid much funfare. But it flopped eventually from not realizing the plain truth that there is just no one-shot solution to getting rid of corruption. Despite the drive against corruption at that time, persons prone to corruption appeared little demotivated in doing the same. Thus, one needs to recognize that effective elimination of corruption is a ‘complex’ and lengthy process. It cannot be achieved overnight through only cut and dry methods.
A moral rebirth of the nation is necessary. Tough and uncompromising law-enforcement measures are indispensable against corruption. But it is only one way among others to get the best long-term results against corruption. The war against corruption will also have to be waged psychologically. The hearts and minds of people will have to be filled with a new awareness.
Values that one should serve selflessly and honestly for the best interest of the individual, the family and the community, appear to have ebbed a great deal in Bangladesh. But such values will need a careful regeneration. Doing of that will involve educating the young ones in academic institutions with moral studies. Over the years, the compulsory moral education in our school system has declined or slackened. So, the same must be revived fully and sustained over the long haul.
Publicities should be regularly run in the mass media to impress on the audience how corruption is a negative phenomenon for everybody from the doers of corruption to the victims, how the community, the economy and governance of the country, all stand to suffer from allowing corruption to prevail.
Also practical steps will have to be taken to create conditions for people to remain honest. Government employees in many cases take bribes to compensate as their official income trail well behind the market prices of essentials or the fast rising costs of living in other areas. Thus, paying employees well to reduce their temptation for corruption can be as important as a new law against corruption or establishing special courts to try the accused.
Even systems in many areas create opportunities for corruption. For example, the culture of getting approval from too many desks in government offices helps red-tapism and the giving of ‘speed money’ under the table to hasten file movement. In this area, only simplifying procedures and bureaucracy can probably lead to much reduction of corruption. And there are many other areas where administrative reforms can be of significant value against corruption.
THE immediate past caretaker government launched otherwise a strong drive against corruption amid much funfare. But it flopped eventually from not realizing the plain truth that there is just no one-shot solution to getting rid of corruption. Despite the drive against corruption at that time, persons prone to corruption appeared little demotivated in doing the same. Thus, one needs to recognize that effective elimination of corruption is a ‘complex’ and lengthy process. It cannot be achieved overnight through only cut and dry methods.
A moral rebirth of the nation is necessary. Tough and uncompromising law-enforcement measures are indispensable against corruption. But it is only one way among others to get the best long-term results against corruption. The war against corruption will also have to be waged psychologically. The hearts and minds of people will have to be filled with a new awareness.
Values that one should serve selflessly and honestly for the best interest of the individual, the family and the community, appear to have ebbed a great deal in Bangladesh. But such values will need a careful regeneration. Doing of that will involve educating the young ones in academic institutions with moral studies. Over the years, the compulsory moral education in our school system has declined or slackened. So, the same must be revived fully and sustained over the long haul.
Publicities should be regularly run in the mass media to impress on the audience how corruption is a negative phenomenon for everybody from the doers of corruption to the victims, how the community, the economy and governance of the country, all stand to suffer from allowing corruption to prevail.
Also practical steps will have to be taken to create conditions for people to remain honest. Government employees in many cases take bribes to compensate as their official income trail well behind the market prices of essentials or the fast rising costs of living in other areas. Thus, paying employees well to reduce their temptation for corruption can be as important as a new law against corruption or establishing special courts to try the accused.
Even systems in many areas create opportunities for corruption. For example, the culture of getting approval from too many desks in government offices helps red-tapism and the giving of ‘speed money’ under the table to hasten file movement. In this area, only simplifying procedures and bureaucracy can probably lead to much reduction of corruption. And there are many other areas where administrative reforms can be of significant value against corruption.