THIS is disappointing that opportunities to end pervasive corruption that the changed political context created have largely gone unused. Transparency International Bangladesh observes that the bureaucracy remains resistant and the people entrusted to enforce integrity are often beneficiaries of the rot. There is an alarming continuity of corruption across almost all public services sectors, from the Road Transport Authority and land offices to the judiciary and other public services. Landowners complain about paying more than the fixed service charges for mutation. Citizens are forced to bribe Road Transport Authority officials or their agents to obtain driving licences. Homeowners are coerced into paying for unnecessary repairs, proving that the public institutions continue to remain a site of rent-seeking. A year after the fall of the authoritarian regime and the installation of the interim government, the expectation was that administrative reform and accountability would mark a new beginning. Instead, the corrupt legacy of bribery, extortion and institutional complicity of the fallen regime returned, unchanged and seemingly stronger.
In December 2024, the anti-corruption watchdog published its national household survey and found the Department of Immigration and Passports to be the most corrupt service provider as 86 per cent of the households surveyed faced corruption in receiving services. The Road Transport Authority was found to be the second most corrupt service provider as 85.20 per cent of respondents faced corruption in receiving services. The sheer volume of bribes given for Road Transport Corporation services, estimated at Tk 10,902 crore in 2023, is an ethical catastrophe. The Anti-Corruption Commission conducted a few symbolic operations in BRTA offices, which exposed the nexus of officials, brokers and local people. Yet, there has been no sustained follow-up. Ordinary citizens also reported that they had encountered corruption when seeking services from the law enforcement agencies. Political influence in the public sector, particularly in tender process and procurement, also continued. This is true that fighting systemic corruption is a long-term process, but there must be strict enforcement of laws to reverse the trend. For the interim government, this persistence of corruption is not just a bureaucratic failure but a moral one. Having come to power amid demands for justice and good governance, it has allowed the momentum of reform to dissipate.
Drawing from the findings and recommendations of a number of reforms commissions, the government should consider developing a time-bound anti-corruption strategy, a road map for depoliticising state institutions such as the Anti-Corruption Commission, the bureaucracy, the law enforcement agencies and the judiciary. Without such steps, post-uprising promises will remain another lost opportunity and the people鈥檚 struggle for a just and accountable state will continue to be betrayed by the very system that claims to serve them.
