Billionaire Bureaucrats Dent Good Governance, Rule of Law

 
According to administrative sources, bureaucracy in Bangladesh has now become a highly lucrative business. Some government officials holding big bureaucratic posts, have made enormous sums of money becoming billionaires and piled up a huge magnitude of assets both in Bangladesh and abroad. Business leaders sometimes regret saying that they pay high taxes to the government and do so much hard work to earn money but some bureaucrats have become much egregiously richer than them overnight abusing their power and capitalizing on their connections with high-ups both inside and outside the ruling authorities.

A monstrous flock of bureaucrats have tightened their clutches on banks, financial institutions, insurance companies, stock markets etcetera and in this way these sectors have become spoiled and dilapidated with corruption, discrepancies, nepotism, absence of rule of law and lack of good governance. Physicians, engineers, teachers of colleges and universities earlier thought that they are committed to their noble professions but at present these professionals are also contesting for jobs in Bangladesh Civil Service (BCS) administrative cadre. Bureaucracy in Bangladesh now has become a moneymaking machine, according to civil society members and financial analysts. This situation is a threat to Bangladesh's independence, democracy, economy and sovereignty.

Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman did not prioritize bureaucrats much. Even Westminster Democracy does not give much space to bureaucrats whereas in Bangladesh some bureaucrats get service extension when their retirement time comes. Not just that, some bureaucrats join politics when they retire and contest for seats in Parliament. Under these circumstances, devoted political leaders get deprived of proper reward for their dedication and hard work. As a result a class conflict between bureaucracy and politics has emerged. Patriotic political leaders and activists are angered over this phenomenon.

These vested bureaucrats have reciprocal symbiosis with bank fraudsters, loan scammers, syndicators, monopolists, oligarchs and money launderers. Immediate past Foreign Minister Dr. AK Abdul Momen once told journalists that most of the financial racketeers who launder money from Bangladesh to foreign countries are bureaucrats.

Bangladesh, which has been termed a hybrid regime, has a high involvement of bureaucrats in the running of the country. Historically, the bureaucracy in Bangladesh was overdeveloped and, with increased resource management undertaken by the government since independence, it was likely to grow further as greater government control requires more bureaucrats to exercise authority. This dependence of the government upon bureaucrats allows the latter more power to bargain with the political establishment. As a result, the government often ends up increasing the executive and authoritative power of the bureaucracy. Therefore, the size of the bureaucracy has grown due not only to economic, but also for political reasons.

The increase in the executive and authoritative power of the bureaucrats further escalates their demand for greater numbers which in turn increases their bargaining ability to acquire still more authority. Moreover, with this rapid expansion of the bureaucracy, as per the demand of the bureaucrats, there is little time to develop the required skills and capacity in the position-holders even where this is required. In its place, some kinds of pick and choose methods, where competence and credentials become less important for promotions and postings, often get adopted. The valuation of merit, devotion, administrative qualities, honesty and creativity has gone down drastically when it comes to the appointments of government officials in senior bureaucratic posts.

When there are more officers than the required number, it leads to an inefficient and unprofessional bureaucracy, leading to a transactional one that emphasizes bargaining. When the governments show some characteristics that are not truly democratic, they have less demand for a rational bureaucracy, which stresses an impersonal adherence to rules. Severe lack of integrity, transparency and accountability in the government service has turned some bureaucrats into monsters, reliable sources have complained.

Immoral bureaucrats have no respect for ethical values, moral principles, service norms, socio-economic justice and equal rights. Allegedly some bureaucrats are closely allied with anti-liberation groups. These morally bankrupt bureaucrats obstruct the government's development visions. Such bureaucrats are barriers to the fulfillment of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's dreams and impediments to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's Smart Bangladesh goal by 2041.

Several bureaucrats have dual citizenship and dual passports but they are never subjected to accountability.

Most of the people blame artificially created bureaucratic gridlocks for the massive extent of corruption in Bangladesh. For this reason bureaucracy should be made more humane and integrity and accountability should be established there for the prevalence of good governance.

Former Cabinet Secretary Ali Imam Majumder said that the parties that held power in Bangladesh during different ruling periods have frequently used bureaucrats to attain political momentum and financial gains. Politicization of bureaucracy has infected the major sectors of Bangladesh like a contagious disease, Ali Imam Majumder further said.

Former adviser to caretaker government Dr. Wahid Uddin Mahmud said that undue political influence, unskilled leadership and lack of actions against corrupt officials empower bureaucrats to get involved in various malpractices.

Esteemed jurist and governance expert Syeda Rizwana Hasan said that bureaucrats are under obligations to work for the betterment of the country's people. Bureaucrats should not work in a biased manner or should not get connected with shady deals, she added.

Professor Anu Muhammad of Jahangirnagar University said that Bangladesh's banking and financial systems and civil administration have become so much unhealthy with vices and misdeeds through the indifference, indulgence and inactivity of the authorities in power that now it is very much difficult to rescue the country from such miserable circumstances.