Bribe-taking caught on video

Acting sub-registrar in Narayanganj's Araihazar area was filmed taking wads of cash from people in his office. The video went viral online and its authenticity has been viewed by officials at the District Registrar's office. This incident is proof of rampant corruption in the offices that deal with land registration in the country. We wonder if this is the reason why officials involved with land management system have not been very keen on digitalising its services. Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) had brought out a report titled "Union Digital Centre in citizen services: Role, possibilities and challenges" in December of last year highlighting the resistance from a section of the land management sector who do not wish the entire system to be digitalised because it would effectively close the door to corruption.

The report's finding was that 56 percent of all citizens who went to these offices on land-related matters had to pay varying degrees of bribes. The government had introduced Union and Service Centres way back in 2009 with the aim of increasing people's access to services at the grassroots level. While the move has been a good one, citizens are harassed by the likes of the sub-registrar who was caught red handed taking speed money for services that are supposed to be given freely. While an official of the district registrar office has told us that the matter would be looked into today, it is time for the government to introduce technology to fight graft in the offices that deal with land registration. When we know that digitisation will tackle bribery, what is the hold up in introducing the system?