Only 27.24 per cent citizens feel free to express their political opinions over the government activities while 31.67 per cent pay bribes to avail public services in the country, according to a government survey.
Of the public services, the highest 63.29 per cent citizens were forced to pay bribes at Bangladesh Road Transport Authority under the ministry of road transport and bridges and the second highest of 61.94 per cent were subjected to pay kickbacks to the law enforcing agencies operated under the ministry of home.聽
These were preliminary findings under the survey titled 鈥楥itizen Perception Survey 2025鈥� released by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics on Thursday at a function in the capital.
Ministry of Road Transport and Bridges adviser Muhammad Fouzul Kabir Khan said that they were aware of BBS findings on harassments of service seekers and incidents of bribery to officials for securing vehicle-related documents.
鈥楳easures have been taken to curb harassment significantly,鈥� he said while talking to 抖阴精品 on the day.
On June 4, BRTA chair Mohammed Yasin was replaced by Abu Momtaz Saad Uddin Ahmed as part of measures to improve the service.
Besides, the Anti-Corruption Commission is conducting raids on BRTA offices in various districts of the country, said Fouzul Kabir Khan.
The BBS survey preliminary findings also showed that the Department of Immigration and Passports, also operated under the ministry of home, held the third position with 57.45 per cent citizens paying bribes to get passports and the聽 Directorate of Registration under the ministry of law was at the fourth position with 54.92 per cent responding positively regarding the incidents of bribes to get land-related services.
Moreover, a significantly greater percentage of males at 61.43 per cent reported bribery experience compared with females at 41.85 per cent.
Inspector general of police Baharul Alam said that he would not make any comment on the survey findings.聽聽聽聽
Conducted in February 2025, the BBS interviewed 84,807 respondents, both male and female, aged 18 years and above from 45,888 households across 64 districts to measure citizen perceptions on safety, governance, public services, corruption, access to justice, and discrimination over the past 12 months to monitor 16 indicators of the Sustainable Development Goals.
On governance, the survey found no major difference between urban and rural respondents as 27.87 per cent urban people against 26.94 per cent rural people can express their opinions on political matters.
But a significant gender gap has been identified by the BBS on the same issue as around 31.86 per cent males could express their views on government activities, compared to only 23.02 per cent females.
Transparency International Bangladesh executive chair Iftekharuzzman said that no conclusion should be drawn from the BBS data on the governance because the survey represented two periods.
One of them was before the August 5, 2024 changeover when the previous Awmi League regime was ousted by a popular mass uprising while the other period was featured by the first seven months of the interim government, marked by instability, protests and mob violence, he noted.
The TIB executive chair said that other findings of the survey, especially citizens鈥� perception of corruption in getting public services is almost same as the findings of TIB since
2001.
He said that curbing corruption without creating an enabling atmosphere by the automation of service delivery and carrying out proper trials of the corrupt public officials.
Regarding public services, only 47.12 per cent of the population used government healthcare facilities with 82.72 per cent finding services easily accessible and 89.34 per cent considering treatment affordable.
For education, over 90 per cent reported primary schools as accessible and affordable, compared to about 80 per cent for secondary schools. Quality concerns emerged for both levels, with satisfaction dropping below 80 per cent for facilities and services.
Planning adviser Wahiduddin Mahmud, who was present during the report launching ceremony, said that the rate of corruption in education sector in the form of bribe for transfers was very high.
Referring intelligence agency reports, the planning adviser, who served as the adviser of education ministry until March 2025, said that a lot of middle men had been active on transfers in exchange for bribes.
Regarding other government services such as identification or civil registration, around 80 per cent reported access and affordability, but only 51.28 per cent were satisfied with processing times, and around 60 per cent believed in effective and equal service for everyone.
BBS key findings also revealed that 19.31 per cent respondents experienced some form of discrimination, with a slightly higher rate among women at 19.62 per cent than men 18.97 per cent.
Discrimination occurs most frequently in own households (48.44 per cnet), public spaces /transportation (31.30 per cent), and workplaces (25.97 per cent), with only 5.35 per cent victims reporting the incidents to authorities, indicating significant underreporting of discrimination cases nationwide.
Primary findings also revealed that 84.81 per cent citizens felt safe walking alone in their neighborhoods at night, with higher safety perceptions among men at 89.53 per cent than women at 80.67 per cent.聽
Of the citizens experiencing any disputes in the past two years, and for dispute resolution, 41.34 per cent relied on formal institutions and 68.96 per cent on informal ways.
These findings highlight the need for improved safety measures, governance transparency, service quality, anti-corruption efforts, and inclusive policies to achieve SDG 16 targets in Bangladesh, according to the executive summary of the report.