Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina today in parliament said the public perception that many staff of the Anti-Corruption Commission are involved in corruption is not completely false.

“No one (ACC staff) is fully innocent. None can guarantee that all are 100 percent honest,” she said in reply to a supplementary question of ruling Awami League MP Maj (retd) Rafiqul Islam (Chandpur-5).

“The agency will have to be conscious from right now over those (ACC staff) who will work so that they will not involve in such activities that create such public perception,” the premier said.

Rafiqul Islam in his question demanded that Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury expunged the words—many staff of ACC are involved in corruption—from the question of Jatiya Party MP Rowshan Ara Mannan (Reserved Seat-47) that was raised before the prime minister.

Opposing his demand, PM said there is nothing wrong with Rowshan Ara Mannan’s question.

Hasina said, “The MP (Rowshan Ara Mannan in her question) mentioned there is public perception, but didn’t say they are certainly involved in corruption.”

“So, there is no need to expunge those words because it is not totally false,” said the prime minister.

In reply to Rowshan Ara’s question, the PM said her government has a special plan to reduce areas of corruption gradually to zero level through strengthening the ACC, public awareness activities and using modern information technology.

“The government is determined to uplift socio-economic condition and establishing a good governance-based administrative structure for building a welfare country,” she went on.

Sheikh Hasina said there is no need to form a separate agency comprising of manpower from different elite force as the ACC now gets cooperation from any government agency whenever the anti-graft body seeks.

Mentioning that the ACC is an independent and autonomous body, she said the commission explores and investigates any corruption allegation neutrally.

Therefore, corruption tendency among staff and officials of different ministries and departments is decreasing gradually, the prime minister said.