Addressing corruption at the grassroots

Rise against corruption", as anti-graft slogan will continue as a campaign throughout this year round the world. The government is pledged bound to stage a drive against corruption as a signatory to the U N Convention against Corruption.
Corruption retards progress
Corruption contributes in creating inequality in the society. Human rights cannot be established in a society dominated by corruption. Corruption acts against investment, public service delivery, accountability and poverty reduction. In fact, resources accumulated from domestic and external sources cannot be properly utilised in national development where misappropriation and absence of accountability appear as omnivorous elements.
Local authority as appropriate catalyst
All tycoons or political leaders living in the capital and metropolitan cities have their known identity in a village or in a township where they are closely known with their roots and backgrounds. In case, any body is found to be suddenly rich or behaving in an upstart manner, it is the local authority specially Chairman and Member of the Union Parisad who can detect the reasons and sources of accumulation of unaccounted wealth. They can easily identify the presence of any terrorist, or criminal or drug trafficker living in their locality and can take appropriate action.
Union Parishad representatives are, therefore, appropriate catalysts to eliminate any type of terrorism prevailing in the society. The Chairmen and Members of Union Parisad at present, feel the law and order as the subject of the central government and therefore, they do not take initiative to detect or report any type of corruption to the appropriate authority.
Thus, the question of empowerment of local authority appears to be urgent and vital to combat corruption and ensure good governance at the grassroots level. The committee constituted for the reformation in the local government system has already submitted its report to the government. We are expecting the salient features of recommendations to be made public eliciting opinion of stakeholders, political leaders, civil society organisations etc.
Historical Negligence
In Bangladesh, the role of local government to ensure administration and social justice is historical. During the thirteenth century, village leaders used to recover taxes through the panchayet system for the greater uplift of the society by encouraging education and discipline. Mughal emperors established cities and appointed Kotwals as chief executive after dividing the cities into mahallas. During Britsh regime, there were experiments of local government system including the permanent settlement or Zamindari system by Lord Cornwallis. The Chowkidari Act of 1870 added a new dimension to the local government system and Local Self-government Act was enacted in 1885 through which the system got the legal status to conduct business as government.
The Union Parishad was established in 1919 and for the first time British government gave attention to the development of rural areas besides revenue collection. During Pakistan times, introduction of four tiers local government system like basic democracy at the union, thana, district and division level was introduced. A major breakthrough to decentralise the local government took place with the introduction of Thana Parishad and Thana Administrative Reorganisation Ordinance on 23rd December 1982. At this stage, the opportunity for upazila based development and training was created. This was annulled in 1991.
This brief history is being repeated to review the major motives of reformations that took place at different stages of history. In fact, there was no attempt at any stage to develop Local Government as honest and corruption free institution. On the other hand, during Basic Democracy period of Ayub Khan, there were deliberate attempts to make it more corrupt and more obliging to the central government.
Areas of reformation
The present reformation proposal, I think, should contain few issues that might help Bangladesh to emerge as a corruption free nation at the grassroots level. Charity begins at home. Equally elimination of institutional corruption must start from the Union level. A few steps need to be taken urgently in the process to make the local governments free from corruption, are as the following:
Certification: Union Parishad Chairmen, as at present, usually certify the character and the nationality of a person. This is generally done without any in-depth inquiry and examining the antecedent of the incumbent. Union Parishad secretary very casually maintains a register for this purpose. Any body approaching to the U P Chairman can obtain such a certificate, of course, sometimes making payment to the local raising fund of the union parisad, thus virtually encouraging corruption and deception at the grassroots. There should be clear direction and standard format to certify a person and this should be done with due diligence.
1. Birth and death Registration: The vital registration was always the primary responsibility of union parisad. This was a major work of union board during the British regime and early period of Pakistan. Unfortunately, the Chowkidars and Dafadars do not inform the birth and death cases to the union office and the office also does not maintain the register meticulously. Whenever a person needs a birth certificate, he can approach the Union office and can obtain a birth certificate indicating his date of birth. Even municipal areas, where birth and death take place in the clinic and hospital, the requirements of certificate from the place of birth is not followed religiously. This is the beginning of a major corruption and a positive threat to the total system of good governance. The government has now started the Vital Registration under a project since 2004 but I am afraid, activities are not going on in a speed as expected.
Local Infrastructure development: Local infrastructure development, especially construction of roads, bridges, culverts and re-excavation of ponds, canals etc are major works usually undertaken by the union parisad. Unfortunately, most of the UPs could not establish their honesty and integrity in the disbursement of the allocation received from the central government.
The Local Government Division had to supersede many UPs on different occasions on charges of corruption. Many ward members and project persons were prosecuted for misappropriation of wheat under the food for works programme. The government thereafter started to allocate cash in lieu of wheat and rice to establish accountability in the system. In the process, many PIOs and Thana level officials were involved and prosecuted. This tendency towards corruption must be controlled through procedural and strong regulatory measures.
Village court: One of the major objectives of the local government was to dispense justice at the local level with the introduction of village court. This vision could not work well due to favoritism, political influence and personal vendetta, which could be termed as corruption. No society can develop if the judicial system and rule of law fail to get its footings at the grassroots.
Way forward
The Chairman of the ACC has started an advocacy campaign to generate awareness against corruption at all levels. We wish success of this behaviour change communication programme with the support of public in general. Since the election to the municipalities and Union Parishads might be held during March 2008, the need for reformation activities appears to be urgent in order to combat corruption at the grassroots.
Dhiraj Kumar Nath is a former Secretary.