Government offices steeped in default culture

THANKS to the parliamentary question-answer hour that can spill the beans from the closet of the high and mighty. Bravo, the post and telecommunications ministry and the questioner who asked to know about it, this has served a useful public purpose! It is now revealed that functionaries of all top government institutions, including president's and prime minister's offices, ministries, constitutional bodies and divisions -- 43 to be precise -- have all figured as telephone bill defaulters! They have appeared in a list furnished before the parliament, not excluding the postal and telecommunication ministry as well, the bill maker and collector itself. So pervasive and ingrained indeed has the government's culture of non-payment become, although allowances are generously provided for the purpose! The total defaulted amount involved is Taka 58.86 crore.
We have so far known MPs and ministers to be topping the list of telephone bill defaulters for years. But now the whole government machinery seems to have become accustomed to the culture. It has somehow sunk in the minds of people in government and authority that non-payment of utility bills is a de facto prerogative for them, a marker of high office setting them apart from ordinary citizens. But as public representatives are they not expected to lead by examples?
What moral authority the governments have had in demanding regular payment of bills from other citizens when their own offices go defaulting on payments. Most importantly, such default means breaking budgetary discipline because it has to do with internal revenue collection and meeting the operating costs of the utility services. Supposing other people were to be provoked into the same culture by the default in the government sector, what would have been the state of the economy!
Indeed, this 'could careless' attitude within the government is a serious administrative slack, governance failure and a financial nightmare for the budget all combined into a growing menace. If the malady could be removed by public exposure of the lists it would have been long gone. Since that has not happened, we urge the government to take drastic measures to have all the bills paid through a mechanism that will also need to be sustained.