Curbing Corruption in Bangladesh:
Experience of Transparency International - Bangladesh

Transparency International - Annual General Meeting
Durban, South Africa

8-9 October 1999

The findings of various research carried out by Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) have vindicated the widely held view that corruption is pervasive and endemic, and that at every step of daily life a citizen has to pay bribes to get things done. The other side of the coin is that the brazen attitude of officials in the public sector is quite remarkable. The general attitude is that the general public has very little option but to pay up in order to get the work done.

TIB believes that the research undertaken so far has only revealed a tip of a massive mis-governance iceberg. Bangladesh today is struggling with the issue of governance in every sphere of public life. Bad governance has infected both the public and private sectors, including the non-governmental sector. The Survey on Corruption in Bangladesh, undertaken in 1997, deliberately aimed at the service delivery agencies given their continuous interaction with the general public. If the systemic 'petty' corruption, as revealed through the Survey on Corruption in Bangladesh, is seen in a wider context then the picture of mis-governance is mind boggling.

According to one estimate if 10% system loss reduction could be achieved in the energy sector then Taka 297.2 crore savings could be yielded, sufficient to add to the system 200 MW of simple cycle gas turbine generation every year. If the inefficiency of spending of Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB), Dhaka Electric Supply Authority (DESA) and Rural Electrification Board (REB) could be reduced by 5% another 50 MW could be added to the system. In one year the current crisis of greater Dhaka could be tackled. The present lack of availability of sufficient power and the poor quality of service, among others, continue to be a serious deterrent for both foreign and domestic investors.

In a recent interview Mr. Abdul-Muyeed Chowdhury, Secretary, IRD & Chairman, National Board of Revenue (The Daily Star, Dhaka, 30 April 1999) highlighted a number of issues.

Regarding tax-payers he stated,

"Out taxable income is Tk. 60,000 per year. Anyone who makes Tk. 60,000 or more must pay taxes. You look at the situation all around you. In Dhaka City, if we take a very conservative estimate, at least 10 lakh (10,00,000) people should pay income tax. There is something-called taxpayer's identification number (TIN). There is a total of 677,678 TIN numbers issued in the country. Of those, only 294,226 filed tax returns. Of this, 280,397 actually paid income tax. People pay 100 taka, 500 taka, 1000 taka income tax, and their number is very large.

For example, those who pay tax up to 5000 taka, the number is 211,802. Above 5000 taka up to 15,000 taka, it is only 31,929. Between 15,000 and 30,000, there are only 12,265 taxpayers. Above 30,000 up to 50,000, only 4,937. Only 3,984 people pay tax for more than 50,000 to a maximum of 100,000."

The figure of 3,984 in the highest tax bracket is not hard to comprehend given the so-called 'default' culture of Bangladesh. Here 'greed/grand' corruption becomes the overriding factor. In another study it has been stated that due to the 'default' culture 40% of the loans of the banking sector remain classified and the banks are so capital deficient that the banking system of Bangladesh, as a whole, has become insolvent by international standard and posing a threat to economic stability and development.

A series of focus group discussions and workshops have been held throughout Bangladesh on the finding of corruption. Those discussions have also been documented and some specific demands and suggestions have come forth. Corruption as People See it (1998) is one such documentation. TIB has continued to organise workshops and seminars to raise citizens' awareness of governance issues. The recommendations of such deliberations have been made public and conveyed to the Public Administration Reform Commission (PARC). It is also envisaged that these recommendations would be incorporated into TIB's advocacy programmes.

As part of its overall strategy, i.e., to raise awareness among public, which would eventually generate a demand for, improved service delivery from public servants and better performance from elected representatives, TIB undertook a governance survey, on behalf of Human Development Centre, Pakistan and the report was published recently.

Professor Muzaffer Ahmad, a trustee of TIB, has undertaken a survey (525 households) prior to the last municipal elections. The survey covered 17 municipalities (51 wards) and the respondent raised 65 issues, which were subsequently condensed to 19. The respondents were keen to have information on the following, among others:

1. sources of income of candidates;
2. criminal record of candidates;
3. what has the candidate done/plans to do?
4. involvement of candidates with abandoned houses/protecting criminals/attitudes towards women.

After the elections the households were re-interviewed to find out whether the above (a) to (d) information given to the voters prior to the elections had any effect on their voting preference. 15% of the respondent stated that they had changed their voting preference on receiving information on the candidates. On both the aforementioned surveys further analysis is being undertaken.

It has been TIB experience that solid documentary evidence is hard to challenge. Surveys, if credibly undertaken, are invaluable in providing hard data, and armed with such data, it is much harder for officials simply to brush the matter aside as baseless. Moreover, the public relations impact is always much greater as can be seen from the press coverage on issues related to corruption. It can be stated categorically that governance is an issue that the public is ready to engage in and the printed media is ready to oblige. A recent seminar of TIB on Corruption in Public Administration was front-page headline news in the quality dailies. The forthright remarks of the Chief Justice and the Minister for Food & Agriculture have started a debate, which is still raging (Annex-III).

So What is the Future?

TIB intends to implement its long-term strategy as stated in its Plans & Programme: Towards New Millennium (1999)(Annex-I). The long-term target would be to have a presence in every parliamentary constituency. Under the National Integrity Programme, funded by USAID, TIB will start setting up a network of Committees of Concerned Citizens (CCCs). These are seen as self-sustaining groups of individuals who, with the support of TIB’s central organization, will campaign locally against corruption. They will play the role of informal watchdog agencies. They may also prepare regular 'report cards' on the performance of local government departments and service agencies, and lobby for improved local service delivery.

Linked to the CCCs, and complementing their activities, will be the establishment of Advice and Information Centers (AICs). They will oversee and coordinate the replication of the Survey on Corruption in Bangladesh, working in conjunction with TIB's Documentation Center. Together they will disseminate information to the public via newsletters, reports, research papers, seminars, and press activities. TIB will also be in a position to advocate certain policy changes. TIB has a website (http://www.ti-bangladesh.org/) which contains TIB's research papers and publications.

Forging Partnerships to Fight Corruption

TIB recognizes that a key to its effectiveness will be its ability to create a strong civil society coalition to fight corruption as a common cause. TIB has already achieved active collaboration with the Press. To make this relationship more effective, TIB is planning to support the training of journalists in the art of investigative reporting. TIB has recently awarded two journalists for their high quality investigative journalism, which would become an annual feature in the calendar of journalism.

Advocacy

TIB has clearly understood that mere exhortation is useless in achieving change. Not only must one build public opinion through data collection, press campaigns and nurturing a powerful civil society coalition, but one must also identify a set of credible measures to reduce corruption. The public must be convinced that there are practical actions that would indeed reduce corruption. So far TIB has highlighted a number of such measures, including most importantly: repealing the Official Secrets’ Act; requiring Ministers and Members of Parliament to make a public declaration of their assets every year; appointing an Ombudsman; enacting a Freedom of Information Act; making public the deliberations of Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee; creating an independent television and radio broadcasting authority; separating the Judiciary from the Executive; and having the Anti-Corruption Bureau report directly and publicly to Parliament, not secretly to the Prime Minister.

Public Opinion and Parliament

Ultimately it is Parliament that must hold the government accountable for its performance. And, in turn, the electorate holds Parliament accountable. Consequently, the link between civil society and the goal of reducing corruption should be above all through Parliament. At present this link in Bangladesh is particularly weak. This underlines the importance to be attached, on the one hand, to Parliamentary reform and, on the other, to the role of CCCs, NGOs, and other civil society organizations which are active at the constituency level. TIB and the Parliamentary Centre of Canada brought together parliamentarians and civil society representatives from South Asia under the theme of Parliament and Good Governance: Towards a New Agenda for Strengthening Accountability in South Asia. Specific recommendations have been put forward in seven areas: Strengthen Parliament; Strengthen Civil Society; Reform the Electoral System; Reform Political Parties; Establish an Anti-Corruption Agency; Strengthen Watchdog Bodies and the Judiciary; and Make IFIs/Donors More Accountable (Annex-II). As part of TIB's holistic approach it is critical that crystallization of political will is seen as both 'bottom-up' and 'top-down' process.

Changing the attitudes and behavior takes time. So far TIB cannot claim that any concrete success in reducing corruption in Bangladesh has been achieved. However, the activities of TIB in building a strong partnership with civil society have firmly placed corruption on the public agenda. Recent press coverage is just one such indication (Annex-III).

Tentative Issues

Given the very sensitive nature of governance as a whole and corruption in particular, TIB believes that the issue of 'ownership' is very important in developing any strategy. From its inception TIB has strongly advocated an indigenous strategy to curb corruption in order to achieve sustainable development. The civil society (inclusive of non-governmental organisations) should be given the support, space and freedom to evolve their own programmes involving local communities. The parameters and criteria applied by the donor community may have to be re-examined in this context, and such a strategy would require longer time frame compared to other traditional areas of donor support. It is worth mentioning here that the 'measurement' of success or failure is another difficult topic to be addressed both from donors and recipients' perspective.

At the same time TIB believes that in tackling governance the role of government is also critical. Notwithstanding many misgivings TIB believes that the cause of good governance has to be taken up by government, particularly the elected representatives in the legislature. This is an area where the donors can also play a partnership role by promoting the 'mega' issues, for example, financial sector and public administration reform, privatisation and procurement policy, establishment of an independent Anti-corruption agency, among others.

The main victims of mis-governance are the poor. The effects of corruption falls on the poorest of poor as confirmed by the preliminary finding of TIB's Survey on Corruption in Bangladesh. They are not just deprived of resources, which are meant for them, but, on the contrary, they have to spend scarce income to avail education, basic health care and essential utilities. Neither do they have a level playing field when competing in business. Most sinister of all is the fact that they generally find themselves outside the purview of police and legal protection.

These are early days in tackling corruption within a new international environment and what we had to say in this paper should be treated with great caution. But it is TIB's belief that we should first try to understand the underlying causes of corruption. They, by definition, will be different and unique in nature and they would vary from country to country. Therefore, TIB believes that we should first look for 'cures' from within the country and then look at other sources. It will be important for donors and others to appreciate such sentiments and lend support.

Manzoor Hasan
Executive Director,TI-B