BAC Report Part I: Executive Summary

Transcription

1 BAC Report Part I: Executive Summary Introduction Corruption has become a widespread practice in Bangladesh. Very few institutions are free of corrupt practices. Bribery serves as a locomotive to get a job done. In order to implement a project or move a file concerned officials have to be bribed. Inhibition about bribery has almost disappeared. The negative impact of corruption can be felt at all levels of the society. According to a recent report titled Global Investment Report 2000 published by UNCTAD Bangladesh has experienced a 50% drop in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). During 1998 FDI in Bangladesh totaled 30 Crore and 80 Lakh US Dollar. In 1999 the amount plunged to 15 Crore US Dollar. Corruption has been cited as the prime reason for the drop in FDI. According to the foreign investors corruption serves as a significant impediment to investment. Japanese and Thai investors were reported to have opined that the labor cost in Bangladesh is very cheap. There are more business privileges in Bangladesh in comparison to the neighboring countries. However, corruption and red tapism makes Bangladesh uncongenial for investment. Poverty alleviation is widely discussed by the government, opposition, donors and civil society. Government has initiated many programs for poverty alleviation. However, due to corruption these programs are not being implemented properly and poverty alleviation is a distant cry. Corruption has become a significant problem for Bangladesh. In her concluding speech at the 18 th Parliamentary session, the Prime Minister expressed despair at the magnitude of corruption. She stated that bribery and other corrupt practices have become widespread. She further stated that mismanagement and corruption have become deep rooted in the country. According to the Prime Minister institutions set up to fight corruption have become corrupt. As a result fighting corruption has become difficult. Corruption has been gaining momentum from a much earlier time. In the article drawn up under the United Front leadership of Sher-e-Bangla A. K. Fazlul Huq, Shurawardy, and Mowlana Bhasani in 1954 one of 21 clauses pertained to corruption. The clause on corruption stated that necessary action would be taken against individuals to stop corruption, nepotism and bribery. To this end all government officials and other officials in the private sector and businessmen were made accountable for income and expenditure between the period 1940 to Loss incurred due to corruption in non-governmental sectors, bank, insurance and Upazila Prishad totaled Tk 54 thousand crore. According to the statistical bureau, in the fiscal years and , total development budget was Tk 51 thousand 139 crore. Even on a very conservative note, total loss incurred due to corruption was more than the total development budget. Thirty percent of International Development Loans received by developing countries is lost due to corruption (Richard G. Dudley 2000). Subsequently, the World Bank, IMF and other donors have brought the issue of corruption in the forefront. To eradicate corruption and attain sustainable development it is necessary to add transparency and accountability in governance. Media is a useful tool for curbing and raising awareness on corruption. According to a World Bank report, corruption is seen to be minimal in the countries that have free access to information. Public channels can serve

2 as effective means to save a country from institutional crisis (Ricardo Uceda 2000). Director of Andean Development Corporation and the Organization of American States believes, the media are civil society s great ally, especially in fulfilling the need to inform, in a serious and responsible way, such the citizens can exert pressure to clean up cases of corruption. Juan Loronzo, a member of El Tiempo, a Colombian national daily expressed, the press has a long list of responsibilities, especially defending freedom of expression, in being able to perform its fundamental role in the war against corruption. Objective Everyday national dailies publish numerous reports on corruption. Due to the large bulk of reports published at such frequency it is not possible for the readers to remember all news on corruption. TIB has taken the initiative to compile the reports to portray the events of corruption in its totality. The compilation of corruption reports is known as corruption database. The objective of corruption database is to measure the magnitude, form and depth of corruption and subsequently inform the government and public of the consequence of corruption. Methodology The research is based on the reports published on corruption in 16 national dailies and 5 local dailies. The reports have been selected using a working definition. Upon selection the reports have been categorized according to different sectors. A questionnaire has been used to gather information from each report. This has been done for the purpose of crosschecking. In other words, to avoid overlapping only one report on corruption from one newspaper has been used even though the same news may have been covered by other newspapers. The data has been analyzed with the help of SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Science). Corroboration Since the study is based on newspaper reports, TIB felt the need to make provision for authentication. To this end TIB has undertaken a verification process known as corroboration. Upon selecting a number of cases through simple random sampling, TIB teams were sent to the site of the event for verification. 114 reports were corroborated out of 1,948 reports. For corroboration TIB used three types of questionnaires: (1) to the reporter (2) to the concerned office and (3) to third person (who knew about the incident).upon interviewing the concerned office and individuals (third person), most reports have been found to be valid. However, in certain cases officials have denied the validity of the reports. Corruption by Sector Corruption reports have been categorized into 38 sectors, out of which three were form private sectors including political parties, NGOs and private service organization (excluding NGOs) providers (private banks, private clinics etc). During the research period, the database research team has analyzed 1,948 reports. On average, this comes to 315 reports per month, 75 reports per week and 11 reports per day. As per the number of reports published, law-implementing agencies have been found to be the most corrupt sector (See Table 1). 320 reports out of a total of 1,948 reports pertained to the law-implementing agencies.

3 Table1 : Corruption by Sector Ranks Sector Law Enforcing Agency Education Local government Health Forest & Environment Post & Telecommunication Land Administration Finance Communication Power Private Service Organization Direct & Indirect Tax Commerce & Industry Food Department NGO Water Resources Shipping Political Party Fisheries & Livestock Reported Cases % No Ranks Sector Agriculture Civil Aviation & Tourism Disaster Management & Relief Judiciary Department of Narcotics Energy & Mineral Resources Youth & Sports Jail Administration Social Welfare Parliamentary Affairs Public Works & Housing BAC Religious Affairs Information Passport & Immigration Election Commission Labour & Manpower Cultural Affairs Defense Service Reported Cases % No Total Apart from law-implementing agencies a significant number of news has been published on education sector, local government and the health sector. On the other hand, a limited number of reports have been published on the defense sector (0.1%), cultural sector (0.2%), manpower sector (0.2%), Election Commission (0.2%) and passport and immigration sector. The number of reports published on the first four most corrupt sectors, totaled 960 or 50% of total number of reports (1,948) analyzed. On the other hand, reports on the last ten sectors represented 2.9% (55 reports) of the total number of reports analyzed. Reports on the remaining 24 sectors represented 47% of the total reports analyzed. Out of the total reports analyzed, 93.5% were on different government sectors and the remaining 6.5% had been on the private sector. Therefore, the ratio of the reports published on government private sector is 16:1.

4 Corruption in Law Implementing Agencies Out of a total of 320 corruption reports published on Law Implementing Agencies, 285 pertained to police. The remaining 27 and 8 reports involved BDR and Ansar/Village Defense Party respectively (See Chart 1). Reports published on police force represented 89% of the total reports under this category. In other words, corruption report on police is 10 times more than Ansar and 35 times more than BDR. On average, during the research period (July-December 2000) 1.58 reports out of 1948 reports were published on police. Chart 1 Police BDR Ansar & VDP Corruption in the Education sector Highest incidents of corruption in the sub-sector of education can be found in the higher secondary school (both Government or MPO enlisted) (See Table 2). Reports on corruption found in higher secondary schools total 59%, which is little more than 21% of the total reports found under this category. The highest incidents of corruption under this sub-sector included misappropriation (18 reports), which is 30.5% of the total reports published on higher secondary schools. In addition, there have been incidents of misuse of power (23.7%), bribery (20.3%), and extortion (15.3%). Donation to secondary high school for the purpose of employing teachers and admission of students has been put under 'corruption'. Rank Sector Abuse of power Table2: Corruption in Education Sector Number of Reported Cases Bribery Embezzlemen t Extortion Fraud Influence peddling Misuse of resources Nepotism Refusal to Total provide services

5 Total 278 % No % No % No % No % No % No % No % No % No % No Secondar y School College Education Office Primary school Madrasha Universit y Food for Education Education Board Technical Education Education secretariat Medical college admin. A total of 42 reports have been published under 'corruption' within the college level education. This represents 15% of total reports published under this category. Misuse of power represented 28.6%, misappropriation represented 26.2%, bribery represented 19% and extortion represented 14.3% of the total corruption reports published within college level education. Bribery in the form of donation, extracting additional fee from students and evading classes to make time for private tutorial fall under 'corruption'. Corruption in Local Government Local Government has been broken down into 10 divisions. Union Parishad, one of the division under local government, is entirely formed by elected representatives. Pourashava and City Corporation are administered partly by elected representatives and partly by government agencies. The remaining divisions are entirely run by government officials. During the research period, 8.5 reports (out of the total 1948 reports) on local government had been published in 21 national dailies. Total reports published on Union Parishad represented 46% of total reports published under this category (See Table 3). Most incidents of corruption in Union Parishad involved misappropriation. The chairmen and members (including female members) of Union Parishad were reported to have sold in the black market most, and in some cases, all goods allocated under TR (Test Relief), VGF (Vulnerable Group Feeding), VGD and Food for Work. In getting the goods the chairmen and members of the Union Parishad take the help of Project Implementation Officers. It has been reported that illegal transaction take place between the two parties.

6 Misuse, representing 17.8% of total cases on Union Parishad, is followed by misappropriation. Misuse of power among the chairmen and members has been detected during the time of distributing government allocation. Rank Sector Table3: Corruption in Local Government Number of Reported Cases Abuse of Bribery power Embezzlement Extortio n Fraud Influence Misuse Nepotis of peddling m resources Refusal to provide services % No % No % No % No % N o % No % No % No % No % No 1 Union parishad Upazila parishad LGED Zila admin Pourashava City corporation Dev authority WASA PHED Local govt secretariat Total 219 Total There was no elected representative in Upazila administration during the research period (July-December 2000). A huge amount was incurred as loss in Upazila administration due to lack of accountability and proper supervision. As a result public is deprived of their privileges. The officials were not found in their offices. In addition, the official were seen to withdraw salary in the beginning of the month. Due to lack of supervision incidents of misuse of power (33.3%) and misappropriation (25%) are found frequently. Officials prepared false reports to be sent to the Zilla (District) offices in order to corruption incidents. Corruption in the Health Sector During the research period, 143 reports on health sector corruption had been published in the 21 national dailies (See Table 4). This represented 7.3% of the total scanned (1,948) reports. On average the rate of these reports published was 24 reports per month and 6 reports per week. Incidents of corruption in the health complex (Upazila and Zilla) have been found to be highest in the health sector. 82 reports on corruption in the health complex have been published and analyzed during the research period.

7 Table4: Corruption in Health Sector Number of Reported Cases Ran Sector Abuse of Bribery Embezzleme Refusal to Influence Misuse of k Extortion Fraud nt peddling resources Nepotism provide Total power services % No % No % No % No % No % No % No % No % No % No 1 Health complex 2 2 Medical collegs hospital Civil surgeon office 0 4 Family planning Health secretariat Total 143 The total number of reports (82) published on health complex represents 57.3% of all reports in the health sector. Misuse of power (44%), evasion of duties (30.5%) and misappropriation (18.2) were the most common corruption incidents in the health sector. Indiscipline and mismanagement in hospitals have led to a frightful situation in the hospitals. Misuse of power (55.6%), misappropriation (11.1%) and evasion of duties (11.1%) were most commonly noticed in hospitals. Corruption at Upazila/Thana level The highest number of reports on corruption were published on Dhaka Ramna thana. A total of 59 reports were published on various offices located in this thana, representing 3% of total reports published under this category. Important offices are situated within Ramna thana. Table5: Corruption in Thana/Upazila Level Rank Name of the thana/upazila Number of Reported Cases % No. 1 Ramna (Dhaka) Motijheel Tejgaon Mohammedpur Uttara Kotwali (Chittagong) Bandar (Chittagong) Mymensingh Sadar Bogra sadar

8 7 Nilphamari sadar Saidpur Satkhira sadar Cox's bazar sadar Lalbagh Savar Kotwali (Khulna) Chandpur Sadar Sreemangal Sylhet Sadar Narayanganj sadar Shibalaya Barisal sadar Sharsha Kalapara Kulawara Kotwali (Dhaka) Kustia sadar In comparison to other thanas and upazilas, Ramna also has more offices, such as Dhaka City Corporation, Bangladesh Secretariat, Bangladesh T&T Board, the High Court and the Appellate Divisions are located within this thana, incidents of corruption are also higher in comparison to other thanas/upazilas. Other thanas on which corruption reports have been published are also located in Dhaka. Motijheel (1.9%), Tejgaon (1.3%), Mohammedpur (1.2%) and Uttara (1.2%). They also have a number of government offices. Motijheel is an important commercial area. Since a large number of banks along with various government institutions are located in Motijheel the incidents are also high in this area. Most corruption incidents in Uttara revolve around Zia International Airport. Officials of different government offices such as civil aviation, customs, immigration and police operating within the airport perpetrate such corruption. Corruption in Zilla (District) Level The highest number of corruption incidents during the research period was found in Dhaka zilla (See Table 6). This represents 16.8% of all incidents analyzed and 17.3% of all incidents at zilla level. There are 26 thanas/upazila in Dhaka zilla. All the corruption incidents in the 26 thanas/upazilas comprise corruption incidents in Dhaka zilla. Table6: Corruption in District Level Rank Name of the No of Reports Rank Name of the No of Reports District % msl v District % msl v 1 Dhaka Noakhali Chittagong Brahmanbaria Nilphamari Gazipur Mymensingh Faridpur Moulvibazar Bagerhat Kishoreganj Jhenaidah Sylhet Nawabganj Khulna Sirajgang Patuakhali Thakurgaon

9 10 Cox'sbazar Pirojpur Jessore Narsingdi Narayanganj Gopalganj Rajshahi Rangamati Barisal Panchagarh Satkhira Bhola Bogra Joypurhat Pabna Natore Jamalpur Barguna Dinajpur Madaripur Comilla Rajbari Kurigram Sherpur Naogaon Magura Netrokona Munshiganj Tangail Khagracchari Rangpur Feni Sunamganj Lalmonirhat Gaibanda Jhalakhati Kustia Narail Manikganj Laksmipur Chandpur Meherpur Chuadanga Shariatpur Habiganj Bandarban Total Chittagong zilla includes 20 thanas/upazilas. Total reports published on this zilla during the research period was 99, which is 5.1% of all incidents and 5.2% of corruption cases at zilla level. 40 reports, representing 40% of all reports under this zilla have been in Katwali and Bandar Thana. The third most corrupt zilla is Nilphamari. 66 reports on Nilphamari have been detected (Table 5.9). The fourth most corrupt zilla is Mymensing. Half of the total reports analyzed have been on the fourteen most corrupt zillas. 11 % of the total reports published were on the least corrupt 19 zillas. The remaining 35% were on the remaining 33 zillas. Actor Level of the Officials During the research period, corruption reports were also published on elected officials, officials working in autonomous organizations, NGO employees and other officials working in the private sector. Amongst them Class I officers were responsible for 34.1% of corruption cases (See Table 7). The highest number of Class I officials reported to have perpetrate corruption fell under the health sector. In addition, Class I officers in education sector (14.9%), local government (12.7%), finance (6.7%) and taxation (4.5%) were found to be involved in corruption. Table7: Corruption by level of the official Rank Actor level Number of Corruption Reports % No 1 First class official Second class official

10 3 Elected official Third class official Autonomous official Private official Higher official Fourth class official NGO official Unknown Total Class II officials found to initiate corruption in all 1948 reports analyzed totalled 19.5%. Most of these officers are employed with the Law Implementing Agencies, i.e., more than 50% of these officers are police serving either as officers in charge or at various field level capacity. In addition to Law Implementing Agencies other Class II officials found significantly involved with corruption were in education (10.8%), land administration (8.7%) and forest and environment (8.4%). High level officials (Joint Secretary and above) found to be corrupt mostly served in education and sports and youth development. Amongst elected representatives (7.3%) found to be corrupt were mostly (82.4%) in local government. Government officials (94.1%) found to be most corrupt have been employed with autonomous bodies in the education sector. It was not possible to determine the ranks of 13.2% officials who were reported to have initiated corruption. Financial Loss Incurred by the Government Only 860 reports, out of 1948, discussed financial loss incurred by government due to corruption. 460 reports, out of 860 enumerated a loss figure. The remaining 404 reports did not quote any figure other than mentioning the fact that the government had incurred financial loss. The total financial loss, from 456 reports, stood at Tk crore. The highest loss was in the health sector amounting to Tk crore. Financial loss in water resources sector (7.4%) ensues the health sector. Financial loss within the water resources sector was mostly initiated under dam building projects. Loss in the Postal and Telecommunication sector emerged from telecommunication during implementation stage and through unauthorized telephone and fax business. Financial loss in the education sector totaled Tk crore. The government also incurred loss due to corruption in the private business organizations. The loss due to corruption in the private business organizations was spread out in various sectors. The ratio loss incurred by governmental agencies to non- governmental agencies is 2:1. GDP during was Tk billion (current market price) or U.S dollar billion. On the other hand financial loss derived from all reports was Tk crore or U.S dollar 1.05 billion which is 2.6% of the total GDP. Action Taken Action taken against the reported cases was not satisfactory. Among 1948 corruption reports somewhat action was taken only against 612 cases (31.4%) (See Chart 2). Bureau of Anti-corruption dealed with only 85

11 incidents which was only 4.8% of the total number of scanned reports. Chart 2 Inquiry and Case file Reported to the authority Departmental action Conviction No action Cause of Corruption World-renowned corruption analyst, Robert Klitgaard (1998) has given a formula describing the scope of corruption. The formula is Corruption = Monopoly + Discretion - Accountability Chart 3 Monopoly Discretion Lack of Accountability Out of 1948 reports analyzed monopoly power was observed in 662 cases on a large scale and on a smaller scale in 371 cases. Only in 6 cases monopoly power was seen to be totally absent. Due to lack of information in news reports prevalence of monopoly power in the remaining 909 cases could not be determined. Discretionary power was found in 1401 cases and lack of accountability in 1745 cases (See Chart 4).

12 Conclusion During the period January-July 2000, TIB scanned 9 national dailies and found 1345 corruption reports. For the last six months of the year 2000, TIB scanned 21 dailies (16 national dailies and 5 local dailies) and found 1948 reports and the same 9 national dailies of the first half of 2000 revealed a total report of 1395 during the second half of But both reports have indicated the law enforcing agencies to be the most corrupt sector. Total financial loss to the government in the first & second report were US $ 2.14 billion & US $ 1.05 billion, respectively. Uttara of Dhaka district was found to be the most corrupt thana in the previous report, but in the current report Ramna (another police station in Dhaka city) has been identified as the most corrupt thana. Many such comparisons could be made from the to News Scan Database reports and the Bangla report contains a comprehensive set of such comparisons. It suffices to mention that the vibrant printed media of Bangladesh is playing a courageous role in identifying and exposing a wide range of corruption incidents. TIB has endeavoured to add value to those reports by documenting them in a scientific way. TIB will continue with this exercise in order to throw light into darkness and hopefully a time will come when the citizens of Bangladesh will experience a more transparent and accountable public and private sectors. Source: 06/18/2002